Reunited
by LordBudFerg
Summary: A reunion. A resurrection. A revenge.
1. Prolouge

**Reunited**

**Prolouge**

**Rain fell and thunder and lightning clashed like the fists raging in the battle within Bowser's castle fueled by anger over the abduction of Peach. Bowser threw a left at Mario. Mario was hit but took little damage before retaliating with a mighty right hand with impact comparable to the sounds of the thunder outside.**

**"I have you this time, you pitiful plumber!" Bowser bellowed at his long-time rival before kicking him to the ground. The plumber lept back onto his feet and flipped, landing on the Koopa King's head hard before bouncing off. Bowser growled and began shooting fire toward his determined rival who easily dodged by running along the walls. Mario found himself in a corner with no place to go as Bowser closed in.**

**"Hope you've had a nice life 'cause I'm about to end it!" yelled the Koopa King before charging. Mario wall-jumped toward the Koopa who stopped and laughed manically as his opponent fell toward him. The Koopa lept into the air and grabbed Mario, slamming the plumber onto the ground head-first in a sickening fashion, resulting in a loss of consciousness. Bowser stopped to catch his breath before grabbing Mario by the collar and hanging him over a window-sill.**

**"Good night," said the Koopa smugly, dropping him to the ground many feet below, watching in glee as Mario fell down into a bed of spikes nearby. Bowser turned around and saw a short figure in the corner of the room, clapping in a sarcastic manner.**

**"Good night," said the intruder before thrusting a ball of ice at Bowser, freezing the Koopa King. The figure then shot a ball of fire. Bowser thawed and began to shake uncontrollably due to the effect it had created. His attacker launched one final ball of ice before becoming a bat and swooping through his, shattering the ice and in the process Bowser. Both the attacker and her leader smiled with glee.**


	2. Visitors

**Reunited**

**Chapter 1: Visitors**

**"It's been five years, my faithful servant. Five long years since my defeat. However, Mario and Bowser both are dead as of a month ago thanks to your efforts, and Luigi's location is unknown. It is time now for you to fulfill your destiny, the soul purpose of your living young Apprentice. You must resurrect myself and he who formerly held your role and then the three of us shall rule over all."**

**"Yes, my honorable leader. I am not worthy of your presence."**

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**Goombella stands in a class room, wrapping up with her job as the teacher of a third grade class of Goombas. Her life'd gone downhill since her adventure with Mario ended; she is now near bankruptcy and desperatly hates the job that she has. She thinks about the adventure she misses so and sighs, then resumes teaching.**

**"Alright, your homework for tonight is to read pages 180 to 196 in your reading books. Have a nice night."**

**The students get up and leave as Goombella sits down and sighs. She suddenly sees a purple circle form on the floor which rises into the form of a pink-haired shadow monster.**

**"Vivian, is that you?"**

**"Yeah, it's me alright," the Shadow Siren says with happiness in her voice. "I've been looking for you for ages. So, how's your life been?"**

**"Not too great recently. My money's nearly completely gone and I just don't like teaching school."**

**"Mine was okay at first, but then things started to go downhill. Marilyn started a fast food chain which quickly fell through, leaving us with very little money and to make matters worse Beldam left and joined some sort of cult in another country."**

**"Whatever happened with Flurrie's career? Last I heard she had a few low grosses in box offices and I haven't heard anything of her since."**

**"Flurrie's gone deep into the Forever Forest in seclusion trying to horde all of the money she has left. Last I talked to her she wasn't doing too well herself."**

**"What about Bobbery?"**

**"Bobbery was at sea one night and was attacked by a battle ship piloted by a mysterious Beanbean man leading a group of Ninji. The ship was sunken and when Bobbery managed to sneak aboard as the only one who didn't drown the Beanbean found and killed him."**

**"And Eggo(Gonzalez Jr.)?"**

**"He's doing well. He currently holds the title for the new X division of the Glitz Pit and is apparently very popular. He's supposed to have a main title shot soon. He is also one of the richest people in the country."**

**"Nice to hear some good news for a change. What about ol' Koops?"**

**"He lives in Koopa Village right now with Koopie Koo. The two got married recently. Koops is the mayor there though the village has recieved numerous threats from King Ludwig in the past few days."**

**"What about ol' Frankly? I assume that he's not doing too well."**

**"Quite the opposite really. Frankly is doing just fine and is rather healthy for his age. He apparently is now business partners with the guy who owns Gadd Inc. and the Starbeans Cafe."**

**"And how about Ms. Mowz?"**

**"She was arrested recently and not for burglary either."**

**"I figured she'd end up getting arrested but not for burglary? What'd she do?"**

**"She apparently failed to pay taxes on her store for the past 10 years or so. She was caught three weeks ago and was unable to pay. Even all of her property didn't account for half of it, so she had to give up the store to the government and is now incarcerated for 15 years."**

**"So just four of the eight are left around, huh? Times have certainly changed."**

**"Indeed they have. I'd have never guessed five years ago or even a year ago that Ludwig would one day rule the Mushroom Kingdom, especially at this time. Oh right, I was wondering something."**

**Goombella shrugs her, um, body in curiousity.**

**"Would you be interested in attending a brief reunion-ish thing tonight? I invited Eggo and Koops already. Here's the address," Vivian says to the Goomba, laying a card on her desk.**

**"I was going to grade papers tonight but I wouldn't miss this. I'll be there."**

**"Glad to hear it!"**

**A few hours later, Goombella goes to the large mansion in Twilight Town occupied by Vivian and her older sister. She goes inside and sees Koops, who is now much more confident looking, Koopie Koo, who has a large Koopa egg in a basket nearby, Eggo, who now has long green hair to compliment his green skin, Marilyn, who looks rather stressed but happy, and Doopliss who now wears a crown instead of a party hat(yeah, for some reason he's there). Goombella approaches Eggo.**

**"So, how have things been?"**

**"Pretty good. I was at Mario's funeral two weeks ago. It was a rather sorrowful occasion..."**

**Goombella was a bit surprised by how much mature the Yoshi'd become, but she responded, "I would have been there but I couldn't afford plane tickets to make it. How was Luigi doing?"**

**"He wasn't there. He's been missing ever since Mario and Bowser died and now... well, o one's quite sure where he could be."**

**After a few minutes of talk with the Yoshi, the two go their seperate ways and she approaches Doopliss in curiousity. "What're you doing here?" she asks the Duplighost.**

**"Well, I recently managed to sneak my way into becoming King of Sarashaland by weasling things out of Daisy who was fearful as Ludwig's army was preparing to march upon it and she needed to hide to avoid being captured. Well, once I took power I convinced Ludwig to change his mind about the attack. This is one of my summer homes and, in exchange for Vivian and Marilyn keeping it cleaned up, they get to stay here for free."**

**"So you've managed to become one of the most powerful people in the world through pure trickery?"**

**"No, no, not quite. Though I did trick my way to becoming ruler of Sarashaland, I did also use politics to play into Ludwig; basically I used people skills.**

**After talking to Doopliss for a bit she goes to Koopie Koo and Koops.**

**"So, what's with the egg?"**

**"Is that any way to get reaquainted?" Koops jokes. "Koopie Koo layed an egg a week or two ago. We're thinking of naming it after Mario if it's a boy."**

**"Nice idea," Goombella says to her Koopa friend. "How's that mayor thing going?"**

**"Not so good. I'm sure that Ludwig's going to have the village attacked and destroyed any day and neither Queen Bean nor Dais- err, Doopliss has bothered to help fight back Ludwig."**

**"I see. As for me, my money's nearly gone and I'm stuck with a job I can't stand."**

**"Tell me about it," Koops replies, "I chose a bad time to run for mayor, that's for sure. I've got the weight of a kingdom on my shoulders with the power of a village."**

**"I thought my job was bad," Goombella says to the Koopa. "It must be horrible having to put up with having that much responsibility in such desperate times."**

**After more of a discussion between Goombella and the two Koopas, Marilyn brings in the food and everyone gets to eating. After a hearty meal and a bit of talking about the possibilities of Doopliss helping restore power to Peach(though Doopliss insisted that his army would need at least a year to get large enough to stand any sort of chance), the group gets ready to leave the mansion. As they prepare to leave, a knock is heard on the door.**

**"I wonder who that is," Vivian says, opening the door. Outside she sees a short figure wearing a hat a lot like that of Stranger in Oddworld. The figure wears an old, grimey robe with holes in it at locations along the arms and stomach. The robe appears to be red but it also contains spots of yellow, green, black, orange, and numerous other colors, though it is impossible to tell which the robe originally was. The figure has long grey hair and a long grey beard to match it, and is most likely a bean.**

**"Can I help you?"**

**The man replies by handing her a card with an address written on it.**

**"Ah, you looking for this place huh? Well, it's deep in the forest but it should be about a mile behind the Creepy Steeple. I never seen someone return from there after going though."**

**The man takes the card back, nods gratefully, and leaves. Vivian closes the door and turns back to her guests(well, they're technically Doopliss's but... meh). Goombella walks up to her.**

**"Say, I forgot to ask earlier, but how did Princess Peach escape from Ludwig?"**

**"Peach's escape is confusing. Apparently, some bean actually snuck in during Bowser's funeral and let Peach out. He actually brought her here and told us to get Doopliss to hide her. I remember that he was fairly handsome and had long yellow hair and a goatee, though I don't remember much else about him," Vivian replies to her friend.**

**"Where is Peach?" asks Goombella of the Duplighost curiously.**

**"Not safe to say. I will tell you, however, that she is perfectly safe and that all is alright with her," answers Doopliss.**

**"That's good but what about your chances of helping to fight Ludwig?" asks Vivian of the owner of her house.**

**"As I have already explained to you quite thoroughly, my militia is simply not enough. I am currently attempting to achieve the help of Queen Bean and Princess Eclair. So far, neither has shown interest."**

**Elsewhere, a particular pirate captain stands among his crew of Ninji. He wears a long, blue uniform with numerous patterns in black and gold along it in ornate designs resembling numerous legendary sources of magic among Plit, such as the Beanstar, Star Pieces, and Star Spirits. He has long, green hair dangling over his shoulders and wears a pinkish-eye mask which his bright-yellow eyes show through, the right causing the light of the moon to reflect off, meaning that it is no more than glass. The figure laughs and turns to the crew.**

**"Lower the masts and load the cannons! We shall descend upon the Mushroom Kingdom within the hour and finally get what we deserve!"**

**"Aye!" reply his Ninji henchmen, all filled with intense loyalty to their captain.**


	3. Catching Up

**Reunited**

Chapter 2: Catching Up

"Do you know what you must do, Apprentice?"

"Yes, my leader."

"Alright. In order to resurrect me, you must be able to create a copy of my old body in order to use as a vessel."

"How do I accomplish this?"

"First of all, you must find some remains of my old body. There is a small section of my left hand in a laboratory in Rogueport which is analyzing it for the origin of my magical abilities. You must infiltrate the lab and steal said limb, and once you have you shall bring it back here and I will tell you what is in need of doing next. However, you'll need to do something else first: get the Warp Pipe, plane, boat, and balloon travel down so that no one can get to you quick enough to you back here. If anyone where to ever learn this location, we could have serious problems."

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Goombella leans against the Warp Pipe in Twilight Town. All of the others stand nearby. The group is talking when suddenly Dopliss' cell phone rings. He pullsit out from underneath his crown and urns it on.

"Hello? Is that so? Too bad, I suppose. Okay, I'll see you in a few days then, hopefully." Doopliss hangs up and turns toward the others. "Apparently someone's jammed the central run for almost all warp pipe systems and all planes and boats are being frozen by some mysterious storm that only hits a controlled area, mainly around the skies in Rogueport, meaning that planes are falling from the sky and boats are sinking. No warp pipes will be open until day after tomorrow and no planes, boats, or balloons will be running until the storms stop."

"That blows. Can I see your phone real quick so that I can call in for a sub at work?"

Doopliss hands it to her. Goombella calls the principal, Mr. O'Goomb, and he's of course heard the news and understands. After this, Goombella sighs, "I suppose the inn will be very busy tonight."

"Hey! Why don't you all stay with me and Marilyn? We have plenty of rooms."

"I was gonna do that anyway," Doopliss says to the Shadow Siren, "since it is, you know, my house."

"Well, that sounds like a great idea," Goombella says to Vivian. "In fact, we could even spend more time catching up. After all, it's been years."

"Yeah. Still, you gotta wonder as to who could summon such a strange blizzard and why," says Gonzalez Jr. "I'd bet that it's that Culex guy I heard Mario talk about once."

"Nah," Koops replies to the Yoshi, "Culex can't survive in Plit's atmosphere and he wouldn't do this anyway from what I've heard myself."

"Some evil Nimbian maybe?" Vivian asks.

"Perhaps, but I don't think it is possible for a Nimbian to do that," replies Goombella.

"Well, either way, we can't leave tonight or tomorrow. We might as well make the best of it," says Koopie Koo to the others, still holding her egg.

"You're right," Gonzalez Jr. says as the others nod in agreement. "Still, I wonder what this means."

The group heads back to the house. There, they all sit down at the table and begin to talk about what's been going on with their lives(since they'd spent dinner talking about Doopliss helping fight Ludwig). Goombella starts out.

"Well, at the University of Goom, I meant to change my major from archaeology to sociology, but there was a mistake in the system and I instead ended up with teaching. Unfortunatly, they never corrected it when I brought it to their attention so... I'm a teacher. At first I did pretty well substituting. When I got a full-time job teaching, I began becoming stressed out. I already hated the job, that's for sure, but now it was just plain unbearable. I began to gamble as a way to relieve stress but ended up losing big-time. When the school found out about it, they lowered my pay hoping that it'd make me see the light of day. It did, but now I am struggling just to survive."

"How sad," Vivian says, "As for me and Marilyn, we were at first living in the Palace of Shadow but we decided to move out what with having to put up with archaeologists 24/7. We sold it to them, and used the money to start that fast-food chain of Marilyn's I mentioned. It flopped, and we were soon in massive debt. That's when we found Doopliss in need of full-time house-keepers. We volunteered, saying that all he'd need for us to do it is to pay off our debts and allow us to live there. He agreed upon adding the term that we'd have to work with him until the debt was paid off, which he equated to be roughly 4 years. It's been 2, but we don't intend on quitting anyway."

"In my case," says the Yoshi, "things haven't been that bad. A new promoter came in about two years ago because of what happened to Jolene. He changed the lay-out of the Glitz-Pit to be more wrestling-like, and the crowd's really eating it up. At first I didn't like the change, but look where I am now! Anyway, competing in the new 'light-weight' X division in the Glitz-Pit has been a blast and I've made quite a bit of money doing it. In fact, as champion, I'm entitled to a title shot when I return to action a week from now. I plan on dedicating it to Mario."

Goombella frowned slightly. Though she was glad that the Yosh'ter was doing well, it sort of disappointed her that he was referring to the one he formally knew as Gonzalez by his real name. She quickly covered it over with a smile. "So, who is the current champion?"

"Well, I guess you could say Rawk Hawk but..."

"But what?"

"About two years ago, Rawk Hawk fought in a non-title match against some newcomer from a southern island in the Beanbean Kingdom. He was a Tribal Guy-like guy, and Rawk easily beat him. After the fight, he gave Rawk Hawk a mask resembling tht of a Phanto as a commeration. Rawk put it on, and his eyes instantly began to glow green as he followed every whim of the Tribal Guy. In one match, where he defended against the Tribal Guy, he was told to lose by his master. The mere thought of losing caused him to kill his master before the match even began, and the unfortunate Toad between them."

"Jolene's dead? I thought she just retired..." says Vivian sadly with a hint of depression in her voice.

"That was what was told to the media to keep the word from breaking out about Rawk Hawk's transformation. We know that there is no hope of returning him to normal as once the mask is removed, it will initiate a self-destruct which will electrocute Rawk Hawk from the brain outward. In short, he is dead one way or the other."

"Sorry to hear that. What about you, Koops?" asks Goombella.

The Koopa sighs and leans back. "Well, things have been okay up until recently. I moved to Koopa Village a couple of years ago. There, I was elected mayor unopposed as the only other person that a lot of people wanted as mayor, a fellow named Kooper, refused to run because he travels too much to run the village. And you know what happened from there..."

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Bobbery's murderer walks into his ship, passing numerous Ninja while heading down. He reaches his quarters and locks the door behind him before reaching under his desk, pulling out a chest. The Bean sighs and opens it, looking inside for what it is he wants. Upon finding it, he reaches down and pulls out... a sack. He lays the sack onto the ground and from it draws a photo. He looks at it and sighs.

"It was not enough to kill that Bob-omb over what has become of me. I must kill his closest allies as well, and so I shall upon my overthrow of that pitiful Koopa's son. It has been far too long since I've been out, roaming and stealing as I once did. Not saying that I don't enjoy this lifestyle more, however."

The Bean puts the picture back into the sack and puts the sack away. He follows up by rehiding the chest. Upon doing so, he unlocks his door and calls, "Ninjal!"

A green Ninji hops into the room. Once there, he crosses his arms over his chest, forming an X.

"Ninjal, I am sending you to attack Twlight Town. It is believed that one of the allies of that Bob-omb that caused me to lose my eye resides there. Find and kill her."

"Yes, master," the Ninji responds in a smooth yet malevolent voice before disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"I'll have to make a point to ask how he disappears like that in the middle of the ocean..."

A few minutes later, the ship shores and its captain tells the crew to rest until morning.

The next morning, Goombella comes down the stairs of her friend's house and sits at the kitchen table with everyone but Marilyn, who is busy cooking. No food is on the table yet.

"I forgot to ask last night, Vivian," says Goombella to her friend, "but have you seen your sister at all since she left?"

"Only once, about a year ago. I saw her in the store, I believe. She was wearing a black hat instead of her blue one and was mumbling something. She didn't even notice me."

"Odd."

Just as Marilyn arrives with the food and sets it down, a Shruiken flies through the window, just barely missing Vivian. A cloud of smoke appears in the kitchen and it clears away, revealing the green Ninji known as Ninjal.

"Hmm, more than one target, huh? Prepare for your untimely deaths!"

The Ninji throws a few more Shruikens, this time at Koops. Koops ducks into his shell, causing the stars to bounce off and land at Ninjal's feet. The assasian laughs evilly and begins jumping around incredibly quickly, forming numerous hologram-like clones. The clones and the real Ninjal all jump upon Vivian, swarming her with numerous strikes until flames shoot out from all around her, getting rid of the clones and causing the real Ninjal to jump off angrily. The flames then subside as Marilyn claps her hands together, causing a lightning bolt to fire from the ceiling at the Ninji, causing significant damage.

"I obviously underestimated you. Very well."

Ninjal draws out two Shruiken which he heaves into the ground on each side of those he is fighting. Upon impact, the Shrikens send flames up all around them, surrounding those who Ninjal is out to kill. Ninjal watches as a bat flies up over and out of the flames and then turns back into Doopliss and Marilyn and Vivian rise from the ground outside of the fire.

"Let's see how ya like this, Slick!"

Doopliss suddenly transforms into Gonzalez Jr. and begins pummelling the Ninji until the ninja manages to get in a hard kick, knocking Doopliss into the fire for long enough to reveal his original form. Vivian and Marilyn then begin throwing balls of fire and electrcity at their formiddable challenger. After this beatdown, the Ninji turns around to see Doopliss, who has transformed into Beldam.

"Might as well go for all three!" yells the ghost before firing a ball of ice at the same time Marilyn and Vivian each throw a ball of their element. After this very painful combo, the Ninji crosses his arms into an X and mutters, "You haven't seen the last of me," before disappearing along with the flames he had summoned. Doopliss returns to normal.

Goombella sighs, "I just can't ever seem to get relaxation anywhere. Oh well, at least we've got a good meal ready for us."

The group eats while watching TV. Just as they're about to finish eating, the news begins.

The reporter, a Lakitu, starts out by saying, "Welcome to PWN, Plit World News. Today, three major breaking stories have all developed. First of all, the mysterious storms have officially ended and all is alright, though the time the storms ended is very peculiar. Just an hour before the storms stopped, an unknown intruder to a Rogueport lab stole a very valuable piece of research, though the government refuses to admit what. It is believed that the two events are connected. In other news, a mysterious group of pirates has docked in the Mushroom Kingdom and has now conquered a large city known as Toad Town. Their leader, who would not give us his name, said this, 'I am here to overthrow Ludwig but don't start calling me a freedom fighter yet; as soon as I am done with him, his family, and his army, I'll conquer the Mushroom Kingdom myself. You can quote me on that.' Stay tuned for more."


	4. The Heroes Take Flight, a Villain

**Reunited**

Chapter 3: The Heroes Take Flight, A Villain Sets Sail(Along With a Hero)

Bobbery's killer stands on the deck of his ship, glancing over Toad Town, his recently conquered territory. It'd been three days now; he suspects a major strike by Ludwig's men any day, especially as Ludwig had just sent a small attack two days prior. With it being a weekend, Saturday to be exact, he is especially cautious. He turns around to check the other side and spots a figure hanging from his flag by one hand. A small sword rests in the other.

"Gutless coward! Get down here and face me like a man!"

The figure responds to the killer's shouting by jumping down. The man lands on his feet, revealing himself to be a bean with long blonde hair and a slight beard, fitting the description that had been earlier given to Goombella by Vivian. He wears a long, flowing cape, green pants, and an armor-like chest plate.

"Heh, are you who I think you are?" asks the murderer of his soon-to-be opponent.

"Depends. Are you who it is I believe you are? 'Cause if so then it is my duty as the prince of the Beanbean Kingdom to bring you down."

"Maybe. Either way, Prince, prepare for your untimely demise!" The pirate captain jumps at Prince Peasley, tackling him to the ground. As the murderer lands, Peasley changes the location of the handle of his sword in order to nail his enemy with the handle, which he does.

The captain lifts his hands to his head over the location of the hit, enabling Peasley to kick him off. After this, Peasley flips his sword around and shouts, "Withdraw your sword! It won't be as sweet a victory unless I beat you using your own methods!"

The pirate captain complies and jumps at Peasley, striking fast and hard numerous times. The prince barely blocks all of the shots and then retaliates with a few swings of his own. The killer falls to one knee from being knocked off-balance and knocks Peasley's sword from his hands on the way down.

"Well, what a predicament we have here," says the murderer to his adversary. "Well, how've things been going back in the Beanbean Kingdom?"

"What, now we're old friends or something? Anyway, things have not too bad compared to everywhere else. If you'd shown a bit patience with your attack then you could've likely been a lot easier off. I was busy convincing my mother to help Sarhasaland's new ruler in overthrowing Ludwig whenever you invaded it and caused her top advisor to strongly go against it. What about you?"

"I've been sailin' the several seas with my group of rookie Ninji that I'd met at an auction four years back. A couple of years ago I saw this ship get sunken by some ship beneath the water. Its captain snuck aboard the ship and blamed me for killing all of his crew and attacked. I fought him off for awhile and tried to explain, but he then caused me to lose my eye by exploding while launching into my face from my mast. In a rage, I had him executed by my men and decided to do the same to all of his living allies that I'd discovered in a photo within a library in Rogueport a month beforehand. As he prepared to die, he said the oddest thing, _Despite all you've done to me, I have to thank you. I may finally rejoin my Scarlett._ Needless to say, I had delight in doing that pitiful Bob-omb in after what became of my eye."

"Underwater ship, huh? I find that quite doubtful."

"It's true. I saw it plain as day. The cannons were fired by two blue sharks with a large blue shark between them wearing a cape. I could've swore I heard the leader say something about us being next if we were to return to that area."

"I think you may have run into Captain Jonathon Jones. Nonetheless, you're still a murderer and-"

Peasley put his foot back to kick his sword into his hands, but the killer put his sword to the throat of the Bean first.

"Don't even try it, Princie. Now then, tell me all about this Jonathon Jones and where he lives."

"All I know is that he occupies a sunken ship near Seaside Town, a small sea-ferrying town hundreds of miles outside the Mushroom Kingdom."

"This is good news for me. I will skin-"

"Actually, it'd be more like 'scale'."

"Alright, fine! I will SCALE that shark and use his teeth to impale the allies of that worthless Bob-omb! And I expect you to help me do it, Peasley!"

"Well, as prince of the Beanbean Kingdom I don't think that that would be a good way for me to establish good feelings between our country and the colony living underneath the seas near Seaside Town..."

"Would you rather have your throat split in half?"

"So, when can we get goin'?"

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Goombella sits up, hearing her alarm clock go off. She yawns and then head-butts it, then stands up to put on her tie- which, despite her lack of hands, she does rather quickly.

"I wish that just once I could go back to my adventuring ways. What I wouldn't give to be able to do it all again."

"Maybe you can help with something."

Goombella turns to the window and sees Professor Frankly looking into the window. He obviously just got there.

"Frankly! What're you doing here?"

"Well, I came because me and my partner have reason to believe that the world is in grave danger. We think that those mysterious storms, the theft, and Ludwig's rise to power may all be interwound."

"How so?"

"I have no time to explain. Pack your bags and hurry out here. I've already got some old friends of yours together outside inside E. Gadd's private plane, and I know you'll want to help with this."

"I'd love to but... what about my job?"

"It's June, right? Just explain to your boss that you've got important matters to attend to out of the country over the phone. There's only a week or two left of school anyway, right?"

"Yeah, but- how'd you know I teach school?"

"Your friend Vivian told me everything about what's going on with all of you."

Goombella sighs. "It's almost as though Vivian spends all of her spare time spying on everyone. Anyway, I'll do it! I'll be out there in a few minutes!"

"Alright then. You better hurry though: Rogueport is part of the Mushroom Kingdom, and we don't want Ludwig knowing anything about this."

"I understand."

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Doopliss sits on a huge golden throne that is much larger than he is. In front of him stands Lady Lima of the Beanbean Kingdom.

"So, a representative from the Beanbean Kingdom, eh? What is it you want with me?"

"Well, I was sent to discuss the matter of Ludwig," says Lima to the King of Sarhasaland. "It is my belief that you are crazy for wanting to attack while the country is being attacked by not just Ludwig but by that band of pirates as well.

"After all, we both know that neither country is sufficently able to stop Dark Land's army. I doubt that the two combined would be much more powerful."

"See, that's the thing," says Doopliss in response to Lima's arguement, "If those stupid Mario Bros. could do it then why can't our armies? It's simple. Our armies are both used to relying on those brothers for everything and thus never want to fight. We need to face facts: Mario is dead, Luigi is missing, and Bowser's been replaced by a more intelligent and younger ruler.

"We need to get to training. Our problem is not our army's size, nor our budget, or even the lack of the Mario Bros. We just need for our men to stop relying on others and fight!"

"And what do you know about it?" asks the Beanbean ambassador in response. "I've spent years earning my way up to the ambassador and advisor position, studing law book after law book. You just came into power through the fear of another in less than a month. Don't tell me that you know what you're doing."

"You have a good point," replies the Duplighost to the Bean, "but I know very well what I am doing. I have fought Mario- have you? Or Daisy? Or Queen Bean or Eclair or anyone else with my kind of power? No. I can fight- all you can do is be politically correct. Well, sometimes it's time to say forget politics and go with your own instincts and right now my instincts are telling me to fight! So, will you help?"

Lima turns around and walks away without answering. She leaves the room as Doopliss sighs.

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Peasley and the murderer stand on the ship. Ninjal stands next to the two, with the captain explaining everything to Ninjal.

"And so," the pirate finishes, "you're in charge while myself and Peasley go out and bring in this foolish fish. And on that day, we feast upon him and his crew!"

"Aye, captain!" Ninjal yells in response, saluting. Ninjal then walks off of the boat as it sets sail for the other side of Plit in order to kill the shark who caused the pirate to lose his eye.

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Goombella sits aboard a plane next to Vivian. The plane is piloted by a young Koopa around 20 or so and Koops and Eggo(Gonzalez Jr.) sit next to the two girls. Frankly and E. Gadd both sitting in the same circle(actually, it's more like an oval) of seats as the others with 5 or 6 empty seats between E. Gadd, who is on one end, and Goombella, who is on the other.

"So, allow me to explain everything to you all. You see, you know the theft that occured recently in Rougeport?" asks Professor E. Gadd of the four guests.

All four nod.

"Good. Anyway, I recently met with Ludwig and- since he respects my devotion to science and I likewise feel the same way toward him- he told me that the stolen thing was a limb- a hand to be exact."

"A hand? What's so important about that?" asks Eggo.

"Allow me to explain. This hand belonged to a highly powerful villain who years ago was killed in battle. This villain is believed to be working from the grave, manipulating others into fulfilling certain tasks to fulfill a resurrection. If resurrected, this villain could literally become unstoppable due to the ability which it will have if brought from the dead to feed off of suffering, something that is in mass amounts in this day and age. All malevolent forces who are brought from the dead and have some knowledge of black arts can do this."

"Which villain is this?" asks Goombella curiously.

"Not sure. Ludwig wasn't entirely in on the experiment and only told what he knew. Anyway, point is, with this hand a key part of the resurrection has been found. The other part is a collection of seven jewels. These jewels-"

"Why is everything on Plit in groups of sevens anyway?" Goombella suddenly blurts out. "I mean, come on: SEVEN Star Pieces, SEVEN Star Spirits, SEVEN Crystal Stars. What, are the gods just big fans of the slots or what?" Goombella suddenly realises that she's been ranting and shuts up.

"Anyway, these jewels each control a part of the cycle of life: baby blue for birth; green for memories; blue for sorrow; yellow for happiness; pink for love; red for anger; and black for death. Each of these jewels can be found in a different location; a legendary map is said to be held in a hidden tomb far beyond the Dry, Dry Ruins but still within the desert."

"Sounds just like what I've been waitin' for. So, where are we headed now, Professor Gadd?"

"Right now we're heading back to my lab. There's still more explaining to be done. A lot more."

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Peasley sits in the crow's nest, tapping his sword's side on the wooden flag pole. _I should have brought my pillow thing. Then I could get out of here easily and wouldn't have to go through with this,_ he thinks. The murderer suddenly shouts up from below.

"Hey Peasley! How close are we getting to this Seaside Town place?"

"It's going to take days. Maybe even a week." Peasley yells back before getting back to his tapping. The bean sighs and looks over the edge, seeing a gigantic shadow underneath the water. He notices two tentacles pull up out of the water and onto the boat and gasps as he sees a gigantic Blooper, much bigger than the Gooper Blooper and other larger versions of the species, pull out of the water and begin shaking the boat.

Realising that he's going to die if the ship goes under, Peasley withdraws his sword and dives downward, ready to do battle with the squid. The murderer withdraws his sword and moves in on the squid as well.


	5. It's Time to Rawk and Roll

**Reunited**

Chapter 4: It's Time to Rawk and Roll

Peasley and his 'partner' stand, swords drawn, facing the Blooper in front of them. The two leap forward together, slashing at its tentacles furiously before being slapped backward, flying into the rail of the ship. Peasley stands up and holds his head angrilywhile the murderer growls.

"This is it, see? I ain't puttin' up with my boat bein' destroyed!"

"I was beginning to wonder why you weren't talking like normally."

"It's part of the pirate thing, you idiot! I wanted to be taken seriously, see? When I get mad though, I can't really help it!"

The two beans again leap at the Blooper, hacking away on the squid while it flails frantically. The Blooper finally begins rocking the boat, throwing the two back and forth.

The captain yells out, "ARGH! I HATE it when my ship gets attacked! Now you've done it, you oversized piece of sushi!" before leaping at the squid and being promptly batted away again.

"ERGH! How am I supposed to beat this stupid fish? I hate kalimari just because of this!"

"Well, I've got an idea ya crazy thief. Give me your glass eye."

The thief who is, as you can hopefully tell by this point, Popple turns around and removes the eye then turns back to Peasley and hands it to him.

"Be careful with it, ya rookie swordsman! Those be expensive!"

"You got it!"

Peasley holds the glass eye up into the air with one hand and with the other does his shine thing, causing the light to magnify inside the eye and begin to burn the Blooper very badly. The squid lets go of the ship as a result, leading to Popple firing one of his cannons into the Blooper, blowing it down into the water below. One last shot into the water and both can tell that the enemy is dead as the water turns black from released ink. Peasley gives the thief his eye back, and the glass is promptly reinserted.

"Now let's get goin' to finish up that stupid fish!"

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The four heroes(and Gadd and Frankly) stand inside a museum within E. Gadd's laboratory which is located underneath a small shack deep within the Forever Forest. Goombella is looking at numerous paintings of ghosts.

"Hey, Professor Gadd," she asks sddenly, "are these the ghost paintings that Mario told us about?"

"Nope. Those ghosts all escaped a month or two after being captured and most settled down, though King Boo, Van Gore, and Boolosus are said to be going strong to this day. Anyway, these are all paintings and nothing more."

"I see. So, what else was it that you needed to say?"

"Well, thing is that you have to have one of the jewels in order to get the map. The chamber it is held within has a magical seal on it that will only open for one of the jewels. Once you open the chamber, you will have a fight on your hands anyway as the guard of the map awaits inside. What it is is that after her defeat, the guard, the Golden Diva, used a spell to get there in order to survive. She did not know, however, that the seal hadn't yet been broken: once you break the seal, you must defeat the Golden Diva for the map," replies Frankly to Goombella.

"Exactly," follows E. Gadd, "I know the location of one of those jewels, but I highly doubt that any of you but Gonzalez Jr. is used enough to fighting after all this time off to handle the creature holding it."

"Where is it? I don't think we have much of a choice right now," Koops replies to the Professor.

"Inside the ghostly mansion that only appears outside of here on full moons just up ahead in that empty area. Inside said mansion there is a mysterious and deadly demon known as the Deathnify that possesses one of the crystals. I don't know if you all could beat it."

"Well, that's all we know of," says Vivian while admiring a statue nearby.

"Actually, I know of one."

Everyone turns to Eggo, who is facing away from them, looking at a painting. "I know where one is at. One of these jewels, the baby blue one, is located in the center of Rawk Hawk's new belt."

"So then all we have to do is go to Glitzville and wait for you to beat Rawk Hawk!" exclaims Goombella excitedly.

"Exactly."

"Good to know that," says Gadd, "It is doubtful that you all could take out Deathnify yet anyway."

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The Apprentice bows and then lays the hand onto a podium.

"You continue to please me," says her master in a sinister tone, "If everything continues to progress as planned, you may find yourself with more power than was originally planned."

"I am not worthy."

"You now must go to the town that hangs in the skies of the Mushroom Kingdom, Glitzville. There you shall find the first of the seven jewels that you require in order to resurrect me."

"I shall leave this instant."

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E. Gadd's jet lands in Glitzville two days later, which has changed quite a bit. There are now two casinos and a walkway to the area behind the Glitz Pit where there is a huge mall. The heroes walk out of the vehicle and immediatly afterwards the jet raises and takes off.

"Okay, from here we're taking the balloon back and meeting Gadd and Frankly in Rogueport, right?" asks Vivian of the other three.

Goombella replies, "Yep, that's it. Okay Eggo, ya ready?"

"Yep. No one else has been able to beat or even hit Rawk Hawk since his transformation, but I plan to do it."

"I forgot to ask," says Koops, "but how'd you find out that it was the same jewel anyway?"

"I found a picture of the jewels in E. Gadd's lab. The way they look, the color, and the markings are all exactly the same in every way to the smallest detail."

"Peh, that jewel should be fairly easy to get if that stupid bird's got it."

All four heroes turn around toward what was just said, finding no one.

"Okay... that... was odd," says the Koopa Troopa.

The group goes on into the building. As soon as they get inside, a huge crowd envelopes them.

"It's Gonzalez Jr.! He's back to fight Rawk Hawk!"

"He's here to end his reign as champ!"

"The X-Division's champ is here!"

"Gonzalez Jr., we love you!"

The heroes walk through the crowd of screaming fans into the locker room and straight to the promoter's office. Inside there, they see a clean-shaven, long black-haired man in a suit and tie, working on something.

"Oh, it's you, eh? Whatcha want that could make ya come back at such a time?"

_He seems familiar_, Goombella thinks, _Who is he?_

"I've decided that I want to use my guarranteed title match right now."

"Right now? Wouldn't it make sense to put it off for a few weeks and get a huge draw out the whole deal, thus getting you a ton more money than it would normallly?"

"No. It's important that I beat him as soon as possible."

"Alright then, but we're definitly doing a rematch in a few weeks after some publicity, especially if you win, okay?"

"Got it."

The promoter stands up and walks out of the room. The four heroes follow. As Eggo heads with the promoter into the ring, the other three go into the audience and fight their way to the front row.

"Ladies and gentleman," the promoter starts, "we have a special treat for you as right now, the champion Rawk Hawk will put his title on the line against the returning X-Division champion, Gonzalez Jr.!"

As he says this, the crowd eruptes into a thunderous obation the likes of which could cause irreperable damage to the hearing of some.

"And now... fight!"

The promoter hops out of the ring as Rawk Hawk flies into the air and dives toward Gonzalez Jr., who jumps out of the way and throws an egg, which is caught by Rawk Hawk and thrown back. Gonzalez Jr. is hit and blown to the mat as Rawk Hawk walks in to deliver more punishment. As the hawk thrusts his hand for the Yoshi's neck, the Yoshi rolls out of the way and jumps, stomping on the bird's head for minor damage. The crowd gasps in shock at seeing someone hit Rawk Hawk at all, especially so quickly into a match. The crowd stands up, including the Yoshi's friends, and begins chanting extremely loudly.

"GON-ZAL-EZ! GON-ZAL-EZ! GONZALEZ!"

"Hey Hawk," Eggo yells, "let's Rawk!"

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Popple and Peasley are at sea, approaching a nearby port.

"So, Prince, how far are we away from this stupid ship now?"

"Oh, I'd say we're within about four days time. Maybe three if we don't spend too much time at this town up here."

Is that so? Well, I don't like having to wait, see? We'll have to be as quick as we can with this stop up here.

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Eggo follows up his kick with a barrage of eggs on the bird, peltng the current champion with egg after egg after egg. Eggo finally stops this and launches his tongue at Rawk, wrapping it around the bird's legs and attempting to pull him to the ground. At the last second, however, Rawk gets a foot loose and stomps on the tongue, releasing the other, and picks up the Yoshi, holding him high over his head.

The bird slams Eggo's back down over his knee then tosses the dino, who is screaming in pain, to the mat. Rawk Hawk follows by swooping into the air where he awaits for Gonzalez Jr. to stand up. The Yoshi spots him and gets a plan, sanding up and selling it like he doesn't have a clue what to expect. He turns and see Hawk start to swoop in then jumps and kicks the Hawk square in the mask, knocking him to the ground because of the speed he was going at the time of the impact.

Eggo walks over and sets his feet on the neck of the bird, choking him.

The Yoshi then stands up and turns around, facing away from the bird as the audience continues its insanely loud chants. While Eggo catches his breath, Rawk rolls out of the ring and grabs something then slides back in and lays down on his side quietly, making sure to keep what he is holding out of Gonzalez Jr.'s sight. The Yoshi turns around and grabs Hawk by the hair. As he starts to pull him to his feet, Hawk spins around and nails him with the jewel-incrested belt so hard that an impression of it is left in Eggo's face. The Yoshi falls to the ground and Hawk tosses the belt back out of the ring as the audience boos loudly.

The Yoshi tries to stand up but before he can the Hawk swoops in for a tackle, sending both crashing into the barricade outside of the ring. Eggo screams in agony from the feeling of his back clashing with solid steel while Hawk merely gets right back up. Hawk then grabs Gonzalez Jr. turns him around so that he's facing the audience, and slides his hand across the Yoshi's throat before slamming Eggo's head onto the barricade.

Rawk stands and turns around, walking away. As he walks on, Eggo gets up and runs along the side of the ring then jumps from it and kicks Rawk Hawk in the back of the head, much to the delight of everyone within the audience.

Eggo then grabs Hawk's belt and wait's for him to get up and turn around. Once the bird does, Gonzalez Jr. does to Rawk Hawk exactly what was done to him earlier. Gonzalez Jr. then turns around and begins trying to pry the jewel from the belt but before he can get it out, Rawk Hawk grabs him by the neck and back. The Hawk then turns around with the Yoshi and throws him shoulder-first directly into the barricade.

"This isn't looking too good," says Goombella to her other two friends as the three watch the battle that is unfolding.


	6. Prophecies

**Reunited**

Chapter 5: Prophecies

Eggo lays on the floor, screaming in pain while holding his shoulder with his hand. The beastly bird known as Rawk Hawk stands over him, coming in to finish the job. The Yoshi's eyes begin to close until he hears a yell.

"Eggo!" yells Goombella as the bird nears, "You have to fight! Not just for us or the world or yourself, but for Mario too!"

Upon hearing this, the Yoshi most know as Gonzalez Jr. begins to rise up while still holding his shoulder. As Eggo stands up, he is again punched down by Rawk Hawk who then grabs him and rolls him back to the ring then follows. There, the Yoshi again rises and is again punched down. And again. And again. After five or six times, the Hawk growls as if to say, "Stay down!" then swoops in for a tackle.

The Yoshi jumps and kicks Rawk a few times. While falling downward, he suddenly creates a shell around himself and fires directly into the front of the mask, blowing both combatants to the mat. The egg then disappears as Eggo jumps onto the shoulders of the hawk, who has sit up, and wraps his arms around his neck, beginning to strangle the bird.

Now the chants get even louder than ever. "GON-ZAL-EZ! GON-ZAL-EZ! GON-ZAL-EZ!" screams the crowd as Rawk begins fading out of consciousness. Just as Gonzalez Jr. begins to tighten his grip, the bird pulls himself to his feet and wraps his arms around the Yoshi in a bear hug. What looks like from far away an emotional embrace is instead a two-sided attempt to make the other man pass out first.

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Popple and Peasley walk through the streets of the city of Marrymore, looking for a place to restock.

"So, what kinda stores do they got up through here?" asks the thief of his royal ally.

"Well," replies Peasley, "there's a shop that sells weapons and mushrooms and stuff, but I doubt that we'll find anything we actually need to stock up on there besides drinks."

"Is that so? Well, what else, Princie?"

"That's about it for stores. There's a chef nearby, but he mostly caters to cakes and such. Plus, he's such a big fan of cooking that I highly doubt that he'd sell any ingredients to us for anything."

"I guess we'll go stock up on the drinks then. Any area nearby where I might be able to find stuff to buy for stock purposes?"

"Well, about half a day to the east is a small coal-mining town called Moleville. They sell barrels worth of nonperishable food along with your basic digging tools and some powerful weapons there in case there is ever a rock slide or something."

"Then I guess we're going there, see? And we'd better be quick about it. We don't want to keep that stupid shark waiting."

Actually, Peasley did. He still wasn't comfortable about the idea and was only staying along with Popple on land because he knew that the thief could out-run him any day.

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_Nothing's happening_, thinks Vivian while watching the two fighters choke each other for what seemed like an eternity. _I'd rather just see Rawk Hawk win than deal with the stress that comes with awaiting the decision._ Similar thoughts run through the heads of her two comrades.

The two competitors in the ring continue their choking, neither one daring to remove even the slightest amount of pressure from the other. As the two's physical warfare appears to be in a stale-mate form, Gonzalez Jr.'s busy fighting Rawk Hawk in his own mind.

_I've come this far, darn it! I cannot lose right here!_

The Yoshi begins to tighten the grip on Rawk Hawk as the same is done by the bird on Eggo. Little do the two know that all they're doing is playing right into the plans of a certain apprentice who is watching from afar in the upper rows of seats.

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Doopliss sits in his throne, this time reading a small green book.

"Ah that Luigi. What a great story."

Upon saying this, the Duplighost sets down the book and picks up a similar book of a different color.

"I wonder if he ever rescued her or if someone else wound up doing it."

Suddenly the ghost recieves a knock on his door. He sighs, marks his place, and yells, "Come in!" In walks a tall, beautiful brunette woman. She wears a green shirt and green pants. Doopliss thinks she looks a touch familiar, but doesn't say anything.

"And who might you be?" asks the Duplighost of his unexpected visitor. _I love these perks of being king,_ Doopliss thinks while looking at the woman.

"I'm just a goodwill ambassador from a nearby island and was wondering if I could have permission for myself and my group to set up a local government at that beach you bought from Isle Delfino recently," replies the woman, "I have a few ideas on how to improve the area and I also have reason to believe that a very valuable artifact is buried underneath of the hotel there. I can obviously only have the place torn down in order to obtain it if I have power there, which I don't. Believe me though, this is an extremely valuable artifact that would not only allow the entire building to be rebuilt but also boost the economy so greatly that it could compete with that of the Beanbean Kingdom."

"You mean the Sierra Beach?"

"Yes, I do."

"Oh, alright then. But this artifact had better prove to be as valuable as you claim it to be."

"Oh it will. You can trust me on that."

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Rawk Hawk and Eggo's struggle continues as both continue to apply pressure onto the other. Everyone can tell that Gonzalez Jr.'s lapsing in and out of conciousness just by looking at his face, but Rawk Hawk, though he is too, isn't as obvious because of the mask that he is wearing.

"I can't stand it! I wish that this would just end so that it wouldn't be so suspenseful!" yells Goombella over the louder-than-ever chants of Gonzalez.

As if one cue, the pressure releases from both of the combatants just seconds later until absolutly no damage is being done by either one and they both fall over to the ground and let go with Eggo laying on top of the out-cold Rawk. The promoter walks up, grabs Eggo's right art and Rawk Hawk's left, and holds them up. He then drops them, and both fall back down limply. He grabs his microphone after this and says, "Ladies and gentleman, both the champion and challenger have been rendered unconcious by each other. Because Rawk Hawk was locked into the move for longer and therefore further withstood the pressure, I hereby declare that Rawk Hawk is the winner and still the Glitz Pit Champion!"

The promoter then picks up the belt from outside the ring and lays it next to the bird, much to the anger of the entire crowd.

The audience boos extremely loudly, tossing garbage into the ring. Goombella, Koops, and Vivian go over the barricade and into the ring with Koops picking up Gonzalez Jr. and slinging one arm of the Yoshi's over his shoulder with Vivian doing the same on the other side. Goombella meanwhile bends over to pick up the belt when, to her surprise and shock, a bat swoops in, grabs it with its legs, and flies off out of the building!

"Goombella, where's the belt?" asks Koops as he and Vivian turn around to face Goombella while holding up the Yoshi.

"It was stolen by a bat!"

"A bat? That's odd... I wonder if this has anything to do with what we heard when we got here," replies Vivian, "I think that we should get back to Professor Gadd and tell him about this."

"Good idea."

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The next morning at around 3 a.m. the apprentice comes through the ground inside the compound in which she communicates with her master. There, she bows and holds the belt above her head.

"Ah... you not only brought the jewel, but the whole belt. Good, we can sell it for some extra funding. Now, the next jewel that you must seek out can only be aquired during a full moon- luckily tonight happens to be one."

"I shall not let you down. However, as it turns out, there is competition to us after all."

"Hmm? Is that so? Who is it then?"

"Just a group of three has-beens along with that fighter in the Glitz Pit known as Gonzalez Jr."

"Heh, that's it? I expect them to get one, maybe two, before us but the rest... all ours. Now get going to the sight of that pitiful King Boo's old mansion. There is where you shall find the Midnight Mansion where a demon known as Deathnify holds the Jewel of Memories."

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Goombella lies in bed asleep within a large hotel room with two beds. Vivian is in the other bed and Koops and Eggo are asleep in a similar room next door. Goombella is tossing and turning, groaning as sweat rolls down her face. She suddenly shoots up, gasping for breath.

"Vivian... Vivian!" she whispers to her friend. The Shadow Siren begins to stir and yawns, then sits up.

"What is it?" Vivian whispers back before yawning again.

"I just had an odd and extremely realistic nightmare. I think it has something to do with our quest. I figured I should tell you since you know about that kind of stuff."

"Alright, how'd it go?"

"It started off like this: all four of us found ourselves walking on floating blue land with all kinds of machines and stuff there. We walked along a bit and found an old assembly line cluttered with things like spears, axes, and spray paint. None of it worked. After this, we kept going and found a giant alarm clock. It was down just like everything else. We then continued even further and reached a factory. This factory was down just like everything outside it. There, we saw an odd bean-bow thing who told us that he'd his revenge upon on us and left, which was certainly odd as I've never seen this guy before yet he looked extremely familiar.

"Then there was a large silver vat thing filled with yellow liquid, but it looked like it hadn't been used in years just like everything else. As we walked past it, a huge door appeared before us and swept us all into it. Then I lapsed into an old recurring nightmare that I'd had from the time I got lost in an empty mall that my mom was downstairs taking inventory in when I was two to the time I was around seven.

"The dream was that I was a toddler and was lost again and no one was in the building at all this time. There were doors and windows and such that I could see people through, but even though they looked right at me they didn't seee me and the doors and windows were all locked. I even tried jumping at the windows but just... just bounced off.

"As I ran through, screaming and crying, it got to the weirdest part of all: flashes began to appear of Koops fighting Hooktail but being unable to damage her, you fighting Beldam and Marilyn with the same results, and Eggo reliving his fight with Rawk Hawk. Then all of us saw a bat except you. The one in your part came behind you and I woke up before I saw what it did."

"I don't like the way this dream sounds. It does sound a bit prophetic. This is especially considering that night before last I had a dream just like this only focusing on me fighting my sisters instead of on you. I even saw the bat behind me, but didn't see what happened because I woke up."

"See what I mean? It's creepy."

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Peasley carries a barrel of fish onto the ship while Popple carries a large box containing such items as grease, Reese Cups, and bread. After these items are put on board, the two go back down and carry up four 24-packs of Kero-Cola each(needless to say, that cost quite a bit). The two then go back and bring up a barrel filled with salt and a large amount of firewood.

"Well, I doubt that you actually needed for us to stock up this heavily for such a trip," Peasly says to the pirate while whiping sweat from his face.

"Well, I figured that I might as well stock up. Saves time for later, see? Plus it's a two-way trip and all... so really I've gotten a great amount. Plus, anything left over can be used by my crew."

"Good point. Anyway, what are you going to do to Jonathon Jones anyway?"

"I'm going to take that fish apart, that's what! I'm gonna rip out his teeth and kill his men with them! Shove that stupid thing of his straight through him! Destroy the whole ship!"

"Is that really such a good idea? It seems to me as though simply taking an eye for an eye would be enough..."

"Eye for an eye? Not good enough for me."

The two beans get to putting everything away.

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The two girls sit in the hotel room, talking about the dreams and what they could mean when suddenly the door to the room opens. The two turn toward it as Eggo and Koops both walk into the room looking the same way as Goombella had when she woke up. After both explain the dreams they've just had, they all come to the general consensus that someone is trying to do one of two things.

"I think that this villain's playing some psychological warfare on us," Goombella concludes, "or that someone is trying to warn us about this door."


	7. The Midnight Mansion

**Reunited**

Chapter 6: The Midnight Mansion

Goombella, Vivian, Koops, and Eggo walk into the mansion effectionatly dubbed the Midnight Mansion. A group of bats flies behind them, including the Apprentice in her bat form. Of course, a swarm of bats following you inside a building in the Forever Forest is normal, so they just dismiss it. The four(five counting the Apprentice) get inside and see three doors. There is a letter taped to the middle door. Curious, Koops walks up and tears it off, reading it allowed(which is good for the Apprentice as it would seem more than a little suspicious for a bat to sit on somebody's shoulder to read something.

"So someone's finally dared to come here, eh? Well, I warn you, I am not the easiest to beat demon you'll ever meet. If you were expecting some animal-themed thing like those stupid TV shows or some big shadow-like roll of cardboard, you've got another thing coming. I don't have element-based powers or work for a higher force or require a stupid broach for my power to work or any ridiculous stuff like that. All of these doors lead you through a unique set of challenges. If you like fighting, then door number 1 is right for you."

Upon Koops saying this, a huge '1' appears in red on the left door. Koops continues, "If you like to use your head, then number 2's perfect for you." A '2' appears on the middle door. "And if you would like platforming then you're advised to go through door 3." As he finishes, a '3' appears on the remaining door.

"Well, I'd be all for door 2 normally," says Goombella, "but if we're gonna beat this guy then we need to get back into the swing of things. Let's go with number 1."

"I'm all for that!" replies Eggo, "I certainly could use it after the way I messed up against Rawk Hawk."

"Well, I guess we should go through the battling. What do you think, Vivian?"

"Goombella has a good point. Alright then, let's get going."

The four heroes walk through door 1. Once they are gone, the apprentice turns to normal.

"Now then, I believe 2 would be most fit for my skills." The Apprentice goes through the central door.

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The heroes find themselves in a long hallway. Ahead they see a sole Podoboo facing them, floating in place. They approach it.

"Heh," says the Yoshi, "just one Podoboo? This'll be a piece of cake!"

"There's not just one of us."

The Podoboo suddenly begins to glow and starts to spin around in circles. As it does, Podoboos begin flying from the walls where they were previously invisible and begin spinning with it. As the Podoboos begin to amount to 50 or so, they stop coming out and spin faster and faster until they stop, revealing a Fryguy in their place that is about 12 times the size of a regular one.

"Oh boy."

The Yoshi begins pelting the enourmous Fryguy with eggs but with little effect. Vivian, being unable to use her fire on it for obvious reasons, resorts to hiding the others as it shoots at them. Goombella tries running around it in order to create a breeze, but instead just catches a blast of fire. The Goomba begins screaming and commences to stop, drop, and roll and then run away. The others run with her as the Fryguy looms in closer... and closer... and closer.

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The Apprentice stands in a room. Inside it there are 6 colored blocks on the floor and 5 colors, red, green, blue, yellow, orange, and purple, on the wall. Written nearby is a message, "Make there be the same amount of each while using all 6 blocks." Each side is the color of one of those on the wall, though the bottom can't be seen. A hole rests o put each one in once the solution is found.

_A lot easier said than done,_ the Apprentice thinks before starting to consider how to do this.

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Peasley and Popple sit aboard the boat on bags of sand. Popple is drinking a can of Kero Cola, while Peasley has a glass of some sort of mixed drink.

"Well, I must say," says Peasley to his sort-of ally, "you're certainly a nicer guy than I first thought."

"If you're trying to butter me up to let you escape, don't bother. I won't fall for it."

"Well, it was worth a shot... but it's the truth anyway. I mean, yeah, you're not the nicest guy around by any means, but you're at least able to talk to."

"Yeah, well, don't expect me to go easy on ya either way if you try to turn your back on me. Now that you know my plan, either you stay in or you die, see? I ain't gettin' arrested."

"Yeah, I get it."

"By the way," Popple says, changing the conversation, "have you ever heard of the Jewels of Life?"

"No, but then again I don't know much about treasure."

"These be no normal treasures," replies Popple, "These are gems that are capable of doing almost anything when brought together! They can make somebody more powerful than ever before, restore lost body parts, and even raise the dead!"

"Yeah, well, do you know where they're at? 'Cause it seems like you could certainly use them."

"Not only that," says Popple, "but you could use them yourself if we found them. Like, say, resurrect that plumber and get him to drive Ludwig out."

"I could, huh? Well, how do we find out where they're at?"

"Well, there's a map hidden somewhere. I'll tell you more about them later."

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Goombella, Koops, Vivian, and Eggo continue running through the hallway, stopping every now and then to jump over a ball of flame coming their way. The group eventually reaches a door which they attempt to open only to discover... it's locked. The four begin to scream until Eggo suddenly gets an idea.

"Hey, the mushroom blocks worked on the original... so we've just gotta use something like that! Koops, get in your shell!"

Koops does so. Eggo then wraps his tongue around the shell and flings it at the top of the wall right above the Fryguy. The shell bounces off, goes through the fiery monster, bounces off the floor, hits again, bounces from the ceiling, etc. until the beast finally splits up. The Podoboos all run away and Koops comes out of his shell. He picks up a key that one dropped before walking back to the door.

Everone begins serrenading the Yoshi with tons of thank yous, a few coins, and a group hug or two, after which they unlock the door and go on in.

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The Apprentice, after using all of this time just looking for a way that this is possible. She finally picks up the block to examine the bottom and see what is there. What she sees is... the bottom is tan!

"That's it!"

She then lays all of the blocks upside down inside the wholes, meaning that there is an equal amount because _none_ of them shows up. A door appears in front of the evil entity, who enters it.

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The heroes find themselves in a pure white room. A large red metallic box-like thing with three sides sits in front of them. Above it they see four purple and silver chains that hang a pure white, ghost-like figure above it by about 30 feet by the wrists. The man-ish thing has long, brunette hair, a blue trench coat, and black pants. He also has an orange collar sticking out from under each side of the neckline of the coat. His eyes are closed.

"Ugh. This guy must've gotten it horribly from this Deathnify freak," says Goombella while looking up, "He looks like he's been scared to death."

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The Apprentice walks into an identical room. Above her hangs THE EXACT SAME GUY.

"Heh, Deathnify must be pretty darn powerful. I can't wait to have a real challenge for once."

She turns away to look for a way out and as soon as she does, the figure's eyes open and begin to glow red.

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The heroes turn the other way in order to look for anything that could lead to where they go next when the exact same thing happens.

"I wonder where that stupid demon's at," says Vivian, "He can't be all that tough."

"Oh, looking for me?"

The four look around and see the man still hanging. He shouts down, "Oh, so you're paying attention now? Good. Now then, prepare to suffer a fate akin to that of your old chums Mario and Bobbery! Brahahahahahahahahahaha!"

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The apprentice stares facing Deathnify herself in the other room.

"So you're this great big ol' demon, huh? You're pitiful. You might as well just do yourself a favor and hand over the jewel, 'cause you don't stand a chance!"

"Is that so? Well, not only am I gonna kill you, but I'll kill those other four pests as well!"

"So, those idiots actually managed to make it through, huh? Well, then, where are they? Shouldn't they be somewhere in here if they're fighting you?"

"Heh, don't you realize that I can host myself from more than one place at a time? Right now, I'm busy playing with their emotions before I kill them. Do you really want to try me? 'Cause if not, I'd be willing to allow you to leave... for a price."

"I don't need to leave. Prepare for your death, ya worthless excuse for a challenge. I shall lay my claim to the Jewel of Memories and be on my way quite hastily."

"My, seems as though someone is confident about her skills. Enough small talk! Time for you and those other four to all be mezmerized, brutalized, and deathnified!"

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The heroes stare up at the demon who still hangs high from the ceiling. "What are you waiting for?" yells Eggo up at the holder of the Jewel of Memories, "Get down here and fight!"

"Oh no, I don't fight from down there. I fight right up here!"

The box-thing suddenly begins glowing. Inside it forms... a glove. The glove floats into the air and twirls a bit, then begins floating with the palm of it facing the heroes.

"Let's see what these powers can do!" yells the demon as a red fireball shoots from the palm of the glove. The heroes barely dodge it, and the glove fades away.

"Egg Toss!" yells Gonzalez Jr. as two eggs are thrown into the air toward the creature. As the shells get within about 10 feet, they suddenly begin to fall(cause, let's face it, eggs thrown 30 feet into the air ain't hittin'). As they do, a mouth emerges from the box, eats the eggs, and then spits fire onto the four heroes before disappearing, doing major damage to Goombella, Eggo, and Koops. Vivian, however, barely feels anything because of her use of fire and therefore continues the assault. She raises into the air about 10 feet and then summons and throws a ball of fire, which hits but just bounces off.

"Don't you understand anything? You cannot win!"

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The apprentice moves out of the way of a pair of shoes that is jumping toward her just before being flattened and then starts an enourmous storm targeted at the demon known as Deathnify. Winds begin to emerge from her hands and ice pours out, swallowing the entire room until the apprentice can no longer see Deathnify through the snow that flies from her palms. She then stops and waits for the snow to clear. Once it does, she is shocked to see that the icey substance hasn't done even the slightest thing to the demon, who merely laughs.

"You thought that your pathetic blizzard would affect me? Ha! You'll have to do better than that if you even want to survive!"

_Pathetic blizzard,_ she thinks, _That blizzard was powerful enough to freeze over Lethal Lava Land! Something about this guy isn't right..._


	8. Shaman of the Sea

**Reunited**

Chapter 7: Shaman of the Sea

The woman stands on the deck of a ship, watching her men procede to set up control of the area so that they can soon bulldoze over the hotel in hopes of aquiring... a particular treasure.

_Just a bit more work and we should be able to get to that jewel. And then... we'll be prepared for whenever that mass-murdering rogue pirate shows up._

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Popple and Peasley dock in Seaside Town and walk off of the boat. "We finally made it!" yells Popple before running off toward the Sea(which, despite its name, is actually a cave and is not even within the sea, but rather next to it). Once inside of the cave, they see a Shaman, who is standing at a stack of crates that slightly resembles a table.

"Ah... more guests. It has been ages since I've had any customers."

"Hmm... are you Merlon, or merely a relative?" inquires Peasley upon laying eyes on the Shaman.

"Hmph. I am neither. I am merely of the same race as he, a Shaman. Merlon is a disgrace to all of us true Shaman and our cause, as is every other member of his family."

"And how is that?" asks Popple in response, "I haven't known them to do anybody wrong."

"No, they themselves do not. However, they offered assistance to that now-dead fool Mario."

"First of all," breaks in Peasley, "I fail to see why exactly this would be so horrible anyway. Secondly, what do you call the fact that you sold the guy equipment and items? Seems a bit hypocritical to me."

"First of all, that wasn't me. There's more than one guy who works here, ya know. Secondly, the reason it is so horrible is because Mario was, and all of those little so-called "partners" of his are, abusing many of the species of Plit. When was the last time you saw him stand against a Toad in favor of a Goomba? He never did.

"Point is, Mario played everyone, making them think he was a hero for the common man. Wrong. He stood up for Toads because they reminded him of humans. The man couldn't even keep a job! Some pirate stopped in here one day and mentioned that a cousin of hers from Earth told her about all kinds of occupations the man had, and he was fired from every one. A demolition crew, a typing teacher, a doctor, a carpenter, a tennis referee, and much more.

"And that's the thing: people on Earth weren't afraid of Mario. But the people here are, all because of the fact that he's punked out some guys like Bowser and Smithy and such. That's the thing: Bowser wasn't all that tough, yet people seem to think he was, and Mario needed tons of help to beat villains like the Shadow Queen and Smithy and Cackletta and such. The only villains the guy has beaten alone who are really all that impressive were Wario, and that's probably due to Wario wasting time using Mario's stuff rather than his own, and Donkey Kong, but that was only after DK'd beaten Mario on Earth years earlier."

Peasley opens his mouth to say something, but then closes it, realzing he has no way to respond to what has just been said. He sighs and walks toward the sea(as in the actual thing, not the cave) as Popple turns to the Shaman.

"Right, well, I'll take two Pick-Me-Ups and a bottle of Maple Syrup."

"Thank you for your patronage. So, I see he is realizing what I said?"

"Absolutly. Thanks for the help."

Popple hands the Shaman a handful of coins, which are counted afterwards.

"Thanks for the tip."

"No prob."

Popple walks off in the direction that Peasley went, snickering all the way.


	9. Golden Opportunities

**Reunited**

Goombella jumps into the air, barely avoiding the blast of fire that has just been shot at her. As she lands, a black ball roles out of the box and then explodes, blowing all four of the heroes into the back wall.

"What kind of powers do you have anyway?" yells Eggo, "It seems like you're just using anything that you want!"

"Well, if you must know, I'm using all of you. Your memories... heh heh. I can use the magic of anyone who's dead. I'm merely only using this stuff to remind you of Mario, Bowser, and Bobbery. Mind games, you understand."

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"Is that so?" asks the Apprentice, "You've definitly got some powerful magic up your sleeve, but you still stand no chance against me."

"Wanna bet?"

A tank emerges from the box and targets the Apprentice. As a missile launches from it, Deathnify yells out just one word.

"Magnum!"

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The heroes continue dodging fireballs and other attacks while trying to find a way to do harm to Deathnify. As the four stop to catch their breath, Vivian whispers to the others, "I think I may know how he's so hard to do any damage to. However, it'll be extremely risky for us to try to finish him up. I'll do my end, but I'm going to need a volunteer to go up there and finish him."

"I'll do it," says Eggo, "but I've gotta know: what is his secret?"

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The Apprentice dodges bullet after bullet, praying for a break in the chorus of shots from the tank, but to no avail. The Apprentice continues backing up, only to find herself trapped in the corner. She gasps and turns away with her eyes closed, hoping that something happens to save her now. The tank reloads...

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Vivian lifts into the air as high as she can get with Eggo on her shoulders before throwing the Yoshi at the wall. He kicks off of it and flutter jumps until he reaches the demon's waist. There, he reaches out, putting his arms through Deathnify, revealing that the whole thing's a hologram. He grabs his target- a small sticker placed within the wall between the two rooms- and rips it off of its location then pulls the jewel off of it before ripping it up. Upon doing this, both Deathnifys disappear and they all hear the demon's voice once again.

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The apprentice turns around upon realizing that the bullet has yet to be fired and sees that the tank is gone. She hears the same message as the heroes do.

"You proved to be quite a bit more powerful than I suspected. Oh well, Just because you defeated these pathetic puppets doesn't mean that you can defeat me. We shall meet again, and not a one of the five of you will live once you reach the Gateway. At the Gate, myself and Gateway shall have your souls."

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Vivian goes up and catches the Yoshi then sets him on his feet on the ground.

"Thanks," replies Eggo to Vivian's actions. A certain bat flies into the room as the building disappears, leaving all four of the heroes on the ground outside. The bat hangs overhead for a second before turning and flying away into the distance towards the Sea.

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A few minutes later, the heroes reach E. Gadd's house and tell him and Frankly the entire story.

"And then he mentioned something about "the Gate" and mentioned that there was a fifth person there with us somewhere before the mansion disappeared."

"The Gate? I've heard of it, but I could've sworn... anyway, that's not important right now. I believe that I know who the fifth person there was. I would say chances are that it was the bat that took the last jewel from you young'uns."

"I agree," pipes in Frankly, "For now though, I believe that you all have a map to go retrieve."

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About an hour later, just after Popple and Peasley have walked away...

The Shaman turns around to see the Apprentice standing atop the crates.

"You don't happen to be doing some work over the jewels for more than one of us, do you?" she asks firmly, as the cave walls begin to frost over a little from her right hand being on one. "I didn't see everything, but I saw enough to make me believe that you're working for that little bean freak."

"Of course not. I was merely doing an old friend a favor. Reassuring a reluctant ally of his that his way is the right one, that's all."

"Good. Now let's talk business. Our leader has told me that something interesting is waiting inside that ship for us, if you know what I mean."

"Of course I know what you mean. I have a feeling though that we may be able to use those two for our leader's purposes."

"What makes you say that?"

"Judging by what I heard, I can tell that the prince obviously is having doubts in the intentions of Mario's pals. Perhaps we can use those two to help to rid our leader of those four fools."

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Doopliss sits on his throne, reading a newspaper.

"So far the police have no leads as to the identity of the mysterious "Pirate Hunter," though a pattern has been discovered in the killings in that someone not involved with either side has also been found dead along with the pirates."

Doopliss stops reading after finishing the article and lays it down, then sighs, "I wonder what the deal is with this Pirate Hunter... I hope he doesn't try to get involved with anything around here."

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"No, no, no! I just cannot seem to get that composition right!" yells Ludwig, who is sitting at his piano, which he now has in the completely redesigned throne room of Peach's Castle. The walls are now painted black, and an expensive red carpet lay on the floor around the throne, which is Bowser's old one. Three paintings hang on the wall behind the throne, up high enough so that anyone will be able to easily spot them just by enterting the room. To the far left is a painting of Ludwig, while the middle painting is of Bowser. The final work of art is a depiction of Morton Koopa Sr. The Koopaling himself looks much the same as he did five years prior, except he is larger, obviously(though not quite as big as Bowser was), his hair is not as it was but rather it is long and drapes over the Koopa's shoulders, and the Koopa now wears a blood-red velvet cape with a silhoulette of his father on the back of it.

Suddenly a loud knock is heard on the door. Ludwig groans and then yells out, "Enter!" Just after he says this in walks a female Koopa who looks about four years younger than the King.

"Ah, Wendy. So, what is it that you want?"

"Nice to see you're in a good mood. Anyway, apparently the new king of Sarasaland has been attempting to persuade other kingdoms to offer asistance in overthrowing you. What do you want us to do?"

"Attack Nimbus Land, that's what. Invading there should cut off about all the major help he could recieve. As Prince Peasley has been missing for around a week the Beanbean Kingdom is in no condition to attack us, and we could easily take the Waffle Kingdom if they were to offer assistance."

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Our heroes sit in chairs at a table in E. Gadd's laboratory along with the two old-timers who are helping them.

"So let me see if I've got this straight," says Goombella, "We are supposed to go to the Dry Dry Desert, go beyond the Dry Dry Ruins, and eventually, if we're lucky, we'll stumble upon another pyramid. We have to use the jewel to open it, then go inside, beat the Golden Diva, take the map, and find our way back to civilization. Correct?"

"Yeah, that just about sums it up," replies E. Gadd to the Goomba.

"Good. Just checking. Wouldn't it make more sense for us to just use the jet to find it instead though?"

"Well, yes," replies E. Gadd, "But think about it: from that high up, a pyramid would be almost impossible to make out from the sand. It'd be in all of our best interests for you four to just warp to Dry Dry Outpost then walk the rest of the way."

"This is true," answers Koops, "But I think it may be in our best interests to at least wait until morning to set out. Give ourselves time to rest, you know, 'cause Deathnify was not exactly the weakest guy we've ever fought."

"You probably should wait until morning," replies E. Gadd, "but I do not suggesting waiting any longer than that. Chances are that this fifth person is already on the hunt for more, or perhaps even for the map itself. If anyone gets that map before you, well, things will become much more difficult. Or maybe not, if they happen to come looking for you after collecting the others..."

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"So, what are you going to do?" asks the Shaman of the Apprentice while the two are discussing their leader, "Are you going to go ahead and grab the jewel that is in the ship now or..."

"I was instructed merely to come talk to you; that jewel can wait until later. I am too tired from having battled Deathnify to worry about the King Kalimari for now anyway."

"What of the creature who recently established the ship as his residence?"

"Something tells me that our two Beanbean friends will handle him for us..."

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"Patience, Popple," says Peasley, "We're gonna have to be careful going through here. There are many ghosts and skeletons aboard the ship- the souls of those who lost their lives here."

"Well, nice to see you've gotten over what the Shaman said."

"Yeah. I realized that he's 100 correct and, though at first it was hard to deal with it, I accept it as an awakening now."

"Good. Then you can help me with taking out those friends of that Bob-omb's as well."

"Wait just a minute..."

"I'm joking! Let's just find our way through here. The quicker we find and kill that shark the quicker I can get my revenge and you can return home."

"True. But in order to get to Johnny we're gonna have to deal with the creature that sunk this ship."

"That giant squid? No sweat."

The two beans walk onward throughout the ship, seeing the many, many ghosts that populate the ship's many rooms and being careful to not disturb them."


	10. What You Desire

**Reunited**

Chapter 9: What You Desire

The Apprentice stands in front of the podium, talking to her leader, "And that is what happened."

"So, the real thing wasn't even there huh? Hmm... Well, this is good for us. At the Gateway you should be able to take out both Deathnify and those four zeroes, assuming you arrive late enough."

"Good. Now then, about what I am doing all of this for..."

"Oh, that. Well, my dear apprentice, you will get what you desire just as soon as you finish my resurrection. And you shall have the power as well."

"Added bonus, I suppose. Still, as you know, the only reason I started working for you was to get what you promised."

"I am aware. And judging by how well you've done everything, I can tell that you want this much more than I originally thought."

"And remember, I want to do this alone with none of your minions or you."

"I understand. Don't worry about it, Apprentice. Now then, those so-called heroes should be leaving for the Dry Dry Desert about now. Head for the lab and take it out."

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"Tell me what you know!" Ludwig shouts as he walks into a laboratory in Rogueport, "Whose hand was that who was stolen?"

The Beanbean researchers in the lab gasp and begin attempting to escape, obviously terrified that a large Koopa who happens to be the king of the area they are in has come in demanding they give him top-secret information. As the men run, Ludwig grabs one by the throat and raises him into the air, more than 10 feet off the ground.

"Whose hand was it?" Ludwig asks again.

"I can't tell you that!"

"Wrong answer!" Ludwig yells as the bean's back is slammed into a wall.

"AUGH!" the Bean screams in agony upon impact.

"Wanna try again?"

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Popple and Peasley walk through a hall in the ship when they see an odd creature that looks like Knife Guy, Grate Guy, Cloaker, and Domino all rolled up into one.

"I say, what are you two doing on my ship?" asks the creature of the two Beans.

"Your ship?" asks Peasley, "This is Johnny's residence!"

"It was," replies the creature, "but he recently moved north. I don't know where exactly, but from what I understand Hinopio of the Barrel Volcano has seen him and has an idea of where he may be."

"Ugh," Popple yells, "I can't believe this! Just when I was about to gain my vengeance! Fine, Peasley, let's go."

"Not so fast," the creature breaks in, "Anyone who boards the ship that belongs to me, Gojira, without permission must suffer the consequences!"

The creature withdraws a katana, and Peasley and Popple both sigh before pulling out their own swords.

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Goombella, Koops, Eggo, and Vivian sit at a table inside a restaurant in the Dry Dry Outpost, talking while waiting for the waitress to get their food to them.

"Okay, the Dry Dry Ruins should be easy enough to find," Goombella begins, "but this other pyramid will take a while."

"Right. So, anyone know anything about this Golden Diva?" Vivian answers.

"Well, I know some things," replies Koops, "Apparently she was first uncovered by Wario, who defeated her and stole a ton of treasure."

"Anything about the map?" asks Goombella.

"He didn't find the map. It is apparent behind some type of secret door that is really hard to notice."

"Well, good thing there are four of us," replies Eggo, "Should be easier to find."

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Doopliss is on the phone, talking to Lady Lima once more, "Yes, I understood that Prince Peasley has gone missing. No, I do not think Ludwig's taking him hostage. Hold up, hold up. You think something may have happened to him? Come on. You know he loves adventure and all that. He's probably out looking into this stuff that's been going on with the hand and all that. Yeah, true, he would've called, I suppose. Are you sure you can't at least consider assistance? Well, alright, I suppose I could give you some more time to think about it. Alright, bye."

Doopliss hangs up and sighs, "Peasley having gone missing is horrible to my plan. I hope they find him soon, because there's no way I can stop Ludwig without the Beanbean Kingdom's help."

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The Apprentice moves forward throughout the Forever Forest, looking for E. Gadd's laboratory. "I must find it... I must get this over with... I must have what I desire."

As the Apprentice passes an old mansion(not the one Bow lives in), she hears a voice behind her, "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here merely to destroy E. Gadd's lab, and I'll be on my way," the Apprentice replies, not turning around.

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

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"Tell me whose hand it was!" Ludwig yells, again slamming the Bean's back into the wall.

"Alright! Just stop this, I beg you! It was Cackletta's!"

Ludwig merely chuckles and drops the Bean onto the ground. The Bean begins to crawl away as quickly as possible, as he's taken far too much damage to walk or even stand.

"Thanks for your help," the Koopa King replies as he walks out of the lab.


	11. A Scorpion and a Mouse

**Reunited**

Chapter 10: A Scorpion and a Mouse

Peasley leaps forward, slashing at the bizarre creature that now inhabites the ship that once belonged to Johnny Jones. Gojira rolls backwards, then springs forward, kicking the Beanbean prince in his stomach. The creature's legs land behind him, and he immediatly raises- backwards- into a standing position.

"You two are foolish," Gojira says to Popple and Peasley, "Before you come charging into an area, do your research on what all is there. Useless advice though, I suppose, as this shall be your last memory."

And with that he launches forward at Popple, who ducks and takes a stab at the jester-like being as he passes over. Gojira lands on his feet, holding him stomach.

"Nice to see at least one of you has some knowledge of battle, it is. So, do you want to fight me one at a time or shall I call in a reinforcement to make this even?"

"Reinforcement?" Peasley asks, confused, "I know for a fact that the spirits on board this ship will obey no man. And I doubt that the King Kalimari would be any more willing than they."

"You are Prince Peasley, correct? Heh heh. You don't think that I would move into here without a few bodyguards, do you? Because if so then you have no business being the future ruler of the Beanbean Kingdom. Of course, a country so horrible is deserving of such a slow-witted prince. Now then, come, Black Scorpion #5!"

Just after Gojira says this, a tall, somewhat disproportionate figure walks into the room. He wears a black hood and a robe to match, and no part of him besides his hands are visible. His hands indicate that he is either human or very close to it.

"This is it?" Popple asks, chuckling, "No sweat. We'll take care of you both easily enough, you cocky clown-thing."

The creature responds by merely tackling Popple to ground. Black Scorpion #5 meanwhile begins punching Peasley in a frenzy, hitting numerous times in the Bean's jaw. Peasley repeatedly attempts to use his weapon to attack in response, but the Scorpion is moving much too fast to keep up with.

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Goombella, Koops, Vivian, and Eggo stand up, having just finished their meal.

"That was good," states Goombella, "Bit dry, but alright. Well, anyway, shall we be heading out?"

"Not quite yet," answers the Yoshi. "I say we need to stop by the prison here first."

"Did you just say the prison?" Goombella asks, trying to make sure she heard correctly.

"Oh yeah, how could I forget?" Vivian asks herself out loud. She then turns to Goombella and says, "Goombella, the prison here is where they are keeping Ms. Mowz!"

"Where they WERE keeping Ms. Mowz you mean."

The four turn to see a small white Little Mouser standing on a crate above them wearing a red mask. Her tail is shaped like a heart which, though quite odd, actually looks fairly normal if you don't look at it hard enough to tell it's a heart.

"I escaped," the mouse says to the four, who are looking confusedly at her, "So nice to see you all again!" she then shouts, jumping down and whipping out a green robe, which she then tosses around herself quickly to keep herself hiddren from any locals who may recognize her. The four heroes run up and commence in a group hug with the thief, then turn to serious matters.

"Are you sure that you'll be safe just because of the robe?" asks Goombella of Ms. Mowz, sounding a bit nervous.

"Relax. They don't even know I'm gone; all of the police within the Mushroom Kingdom have been called by Ludwig to go find Cackletta. Everyone escaped and trust me, they'll be looking for murderers and such first of all, not people who didn't pay taxes. It'll be years before they even bother to come looking for me and by then I'll be out of the country. I've got plans to start a new badge shop in the Beanbean Kingdom anyway. Plus, they've been so intent on catching the Pirate Hunter that they're've been days when we weren't even given dinner due to them being busy with investigating it."

"What was that about Cackletta? I thought she was dead!" Vivian replies, shocked.

"She is. Her hand was the one that was stolen. I overhead some guards talking this morning, and then a bunch of us got together and put together an escape plan. I take it that you all are working to stop her apprentice then?"

"Of course. That would explain the bat in Glitzville, and that fifth person," Koops responds.

"Who's Cackletta?" asks Eggo. Goombella turns to the Yoshi.

"Five years ago, Mario and Luigi went to the Beanbean Kingdom to get back Peach's voice, which had been stolen by Cackletta, who was a Beanbean witch, and her bizarre-speaking apprentice Fawful. They defeated her in the Woohoo Hooniversity, but as she was approaching death Fawful sucked her energy into a special helmet he invented, which was also the helmet that had been used to steal Peach's voice. The ghost of the witch was put into Bowser's body, creating the monster Bowletta, who kidnapped Peach, who as it turned out hadn't had her voice stolen after all- it was actually a Birdo in disguise. The Marios got her back then went into Bowser's castle, and defeated all seven Koopalings, who were tricked into working for Bowletta, beliving he... she... um, it to be their father. They then went on to defeat Fawful just outside of Bowser's throne room. After a timely assist from Prince Peasley, who killed the Bean by knocking him out of the castle and into the ocean, the two continued. They fought Bowletta and were eaten, but they retained enough stamina to survive. Inside of the creature, they fought and destroyed Cackletta's ghost, which left Bowser's body and this realm."

"Now we know what we're up against, at least," Koops says about the Cackletta subject, "But from what I understand she isn't exactly a light-weight. Cackletta's the real deal."

"Well then," says Vivian, "Shall we be heading out?"

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The Bean walks into the Twilight Woods slowly, dragging himself through the canyon which, at the rate he is going, would take weeks, rather than using the trail. As soon as he gets into the woods, he collapses, lying on the ground suffering of hunger, thirst, and fatigue. His hair and beard's silver color reflects the moonlight off of them as his eyes close.


	12. Then I Was Alive

**Reunited**

Chapter 11: Then I Was Alive

As the Bean sleeps on the dirt path leading to the Creepy Steeple, which is about a mile away from his destination, he remembers so clearly why it is he is so exhausted and taking so long. He fingers the red jewel hanging by a string around his neck as he dreams of it...

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_The Bean limps up the steps of the old mansion, exhausted at having finally pulled himself there but still ecstatic to reach that destination. The door is cracked slightly and, much to his surprise, he sees a fgure standing inside._

_"Hmm? Is that so? Who is it then?"_

_"Just a group of three has-beens along with that fighter in the Glitz Pit known as Gonzalez Jr."_

_"Heh, that's it? I expect them to get one, maybe two, before us but the rest... all ours. Now get going to the sight of that pitiful King Boo's old mansion. There is where you shall find the Midnight Mansion where a demon known as Deathnify holds the Jewel of Memories."_

_"Cackletta, if you expect me to get these jewels for easily then it'd probably be best to tell me all of their locations right now," says the Apprentice to her leader._

_"Certainly," replies the deceased bean-witch, "in addition to the jewel we have and the one in the Midnight Mansion, here's how they go: the yellow jewel, the Happiness, is in Flower Fields, possessed by a Crazee Dayzee hiding there named Insanee Dayzee; the blue jewel, Sorrow, is in the sunken ship that once belonged to Captain Jonathon Jones and is in the possession of the King Kalimari; Love, the pink jewel, is buried underneath a hotel on Isle Delfino; Death, the black jewel, is in the possession of a creature known as Gateway that resides within the Gate; and finally, the red jewel known as Anger is held by the Ninji of Star Valley, and is buried deep beneath one of the houses."_

_"Good. I'll have to make a point to ensure that I collect them all before those fools get that worthless map."_

_The Bean, upon seeing and hearing this, turns away and thinks, _Walking in now would not be right. I shall though retrieve one of them- the Anger one- and bring it with me to here.

_The man turns and slowly limps back down the path._

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Peasley goes for another slash with his rapier at the Scorpion, who again punches Peasley before the blade is slung.

_What am I going to do, _Peasley wonders. _Must I wait for Popple to offer some assistance?_

Popple meanwhile is having troubles of his own, as Gojira has the Bean on the ground, clawing away at the thief-turned-pirate's face.

"Peasley, a little helped be appreciated!" the bean yells out as soon as Gojira takes a moment to rest.

"I'm not- oof!- in a position to- augh!- help out!"

Peasley then realizes somethign while dodging the punches, _If I can't beat this guy... and Popple can't beat Gojira... then maybe we can try this the other way around!_

Peasley kicks the human in the gut and then run over, kicking the strange jester off of his Beanbean sorta-ally.

"Thanks," Popple utters to the Prince whilst resuming a standing position.

"You're welcome, but there's no time for that. You try working with Scorpy; I'll handle the freak."

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The five heroes walk through the halls of the pyramid, looking very carefully for the door that will lead them to the map.

"This door could be a little hard to find... whaddya say we split up?" Goombella suggests.

"Good idea. There are only 8 main passages around here anyway, and five of those are down here on the ground level," replies Vivian. "Of course, there are many more passages that branch off of those, but it shouldn't be too hard to find our way around."

"Exactly."

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Wendy walks into the official kingdom lab, seeing that Iggy is sitting at his desk with his head lying on the table, and is obviously asleep.

"Iggy!" the female Koopa yells, startling her older brother and causing him to jump up in shock before seeing Wendy.

"Oh, it's you," Iggy mutters. "What is it he wants this time?"

"It's not something that he particular wants, but that I need to do something he wants."

"And that is?" Iggy asks, reluctant to start inventing something new.

"I need the keys to the Cloudrunner, that is all."

"Oh," Iggy replies, relieved, before taking the keys off the desk and tossing them to his sister, who catches them quite easily. The female Koopaling nods in appreciation and turns, walking out of the room intent upon doing what she has been instructed to do.


	13. Fallen

**Reunited**

Chapter 12: Fallen

The Apprentice looks over her shoulder as she continues onward, looking at the nonmoving body of Flurrie.

"That settles that," she tells herself as she continues farther into the Forever Forest, "That foolish girl should've never tried to attack me."

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Vivian travels through the halls of the pyramid, looking around for any sign of an odd door, or perhaps the Golden Diva herself.

"I wonder what else lurks within these halls. Certainly the Golden Diva is not without protection."

The Shadow Siren continues further down the passage, eventually reaching a large empty room with nothing inside. Vivian sighs, "A dead end. Perfect."

The Shadow turns around and gasps as a giant teddy-bear with a mouse on top of it comes flying down at her.

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Beldam goes through the Forever Forest, looking around for something.

_Now to get what I came here for,_ the eldest Shadow Siren thinks as she continues her search for what she came to find.

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The Apprentice continues throughout the forest, finally reaching what it was she came for.

"You'd think that those pitiful four would have something a bit more impressive," she mutters whilst staring down the old shack, "Of course, they won't even have this in a minute."

The woman slams the door open and enters the room. She turns her head to see Frankly and Gadd rushing up the steps, and merely freezes both of the two. The Apprentice goes down the stairs to the lab and once inside begins to mercilessly destroy everything in sight.

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Aerodent looks down at the Shadow Siren, who is laying on the ground from his attack.

"What's the matter?" the mouse asks of Vivian in a teasing tone, "Not big enough to play a real game?"

"You wish," Vivian yells in response as she resumes a neutral position. The shadow then begins to lob balls of fire at the mouse, who merely dodges the blasts.

"Nice try, but you'll have to do much better than that."

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Ms. Mowz walks through the Sapphire Passage, looking around for the door and, of course, treasure.

"Sigh... I think Wario took all of it when he came here."

It is then that the rodent hears what sounds like the wings of a bat flapping. The noise comes from inside of a dark room a bit further ahead of the mouse.

"I wonder what's in there... well, who cares? I'm betting there's treasure! Or at least the Golden Diva!"

The thief charges into the room.

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Goombella walks into the final hallway of the Gold Passage, seeing nothing but two doors: one of these doors is straight ahead, while the other is a sealed off door that leads to the level Wario beat to get to the Diva.

"I think I found her," Goombella tells herself as she walks down the hallway slowly. The Goomba enters the room and inside discovers herself face to face with the strange floating creature that is the Golden Diva.

"Alright, Diva, tell me where the door containing the map is and I'll, like, leave you alone and stuff!"

"Oh dear," the Diva replies sarcastically, "A Goomba school teacher who thinks she's some kind of hero! What am I ever going to do?"

"Why can't you just tell me where the map is? I really don't care for fighting."

"I do," the Diva replies, changing from her joking, sarcastic voice to a voice sounding just as evil as she herself is.

"Fine then." Goombella leaps at the Diva, who merely slaps her away.

"You're kidding, right? For someone as smart as you are you are certainly too headstrong in battle. You need to think before you strike."

"Oh, I always hated villains who give you advice while you fight them!"

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The Apprentice flutters into the room in which she communicates with Cackletta.

"Did you do it?"

"Yes, I did, Mistress. And I have an unpleasant surprise planned for those fools when they arrive here, whenever that may be..."


	14. Grow Up

**Reunited**

Chapter 13- Grow-Up

"So, what shall I do for now, Mistress?" the Apprentice asks of her leader, "You said it yourself that we might as well let them have the one held by that pathetic squid, and unless they're there as well then going to the Gate would be a suicide mission."

"Simple, Apprentice," Cackletta replies. "There is a Bean that my minions have spotted sleeping in the woods near Twilight Town. Find him and bring him here for interrogation."

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Popple throws another fist at the Black Scorpion, knocking the man to the ground. Peasley, on the other side of the cabin they're in, has Gojira pinned to the ground with his sword held at the creature's throat.

"Alright, are you gonna let us go in peace or will we have to kill you?" Peasley asks of his opponent. Popple, while keeping BS#5 pinned to the ground, watches this curiously. _He's falling for it even quicker than planned, _Popple thinks before turning to his captive and pulling the mask off of him.

"Waluigi?" Popple questions, "Why would you be working for a guy like this, and what's with the funeral get-up?"

"If you must know," answers Waluigi bitterly, "I took a job working for Gojira after Wario retired to a private island on Earth using the money he made from WarioWare. I had nothing better to do, so I joined up with Gojira and I now guard the place."

"What happened to Black Scorpions 1 through 4 anyway?"

"KIA."

"That sounds pretty cool. Maybe they'd let me joi-"

"Popple," Peasley yells from across the room while still holding down Gojira, "It means 'killed in action.'"

"Oh."

"Well, go ahead then," Waluigi says to Popple, "Add me to the list. I won't complain about the inevitable."

Popple considers for a second, then gets up off of Waluigi. Peasley does the same on his side of the room.

"Nice to see you're not as merciless as I," Gojira mutters to the two while pulling himself to his feet, "If we had won instead of you, the two of you would surely be dead. Well, you may go ahead and leave. We will not hold you back further."

Popple and Peasley both look about ready to reply to this comment, but instead just turn and walk away.

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The Bean sits on a log in the woods, having recently eaten a few plants in order to gaim some stamina. He is ripping out his hair and beard in a blind frenzy filled with insanity.

"You, who are you and what are you doing here?"

The Bean turns around and sees the Apprentice staring at him.

"I repeat: who are you and what are you doing here?" she asks as a ball of ice begins to develop around her hand. "Cackletta does not accept trespassers. State your intentions or, well, get ready to be an ice sculpture.

The Bean apparently doesn't bother to listen as he continues to rip his hair out. Once almost all of it is gone, the Apprentice is stunned at what she sees. "You? Come with me. Cackletta will most definitly be elated to see you!"

The Bean stands up and follows, continuing to rip his hair out as he moves forward. As the two walk on, the Apprentice notices the jewel hanging around his neck.

"You grabbed one of those before you came? Excellent. Cackletta will be that much happier."

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"Take that!" Goombella yells as she kicks the Golden Diva in the face, again to no avail.

"Give it up, girl. You cannot defeat me."

"Wanna bet?" Goombella shouts in return before beginning a string of headbutts on the Diva. Once more, little damage is done.

"I grow tired of this," the woman yells as she points her fan at Goombella and waves it slightly. A strange wind comes out of the fan and lifts the Goomba into the air, and the Diva promptly smashes her fist down over her, knocking the teacher back to the ground.

"Face it, dearie," the Diva says as Goombella angrily pulls herself to her feet, "you are worthless. You're a pathetic little rodent who, despite the fact that she is a Goomba and not a particurally tough one at that, believes that she can do anything. You've got about 10 seconds to grow-up and face the facts: in the real world, heroes do not prevail. Heroes fall to the might of those who contain true power, such as myself!"

"No, you're wrong!" Goombella furiously yells in response. "Sure, evil may win a few battles here and there but in the end good will always prevail!"

"Oh, like your friend Mario 'prevailed' against Bowser?"

"That's it!" Goombella jumps into the air and once again kicks the Diva, this time knocking her back-first into a wall.

"Nice shot," the woman replies while holding her back for a second, "but you'll need about 100 more if you are to have any prayer of defeating me!"

Goombella launches another kick, which the Diva blocks before knocking the Goomba back to the ground.

"Face it, girl. You signed your own death warrant when you decided to fight me."

"Again with the cliched phrases? Come on, you washed up old hag."

"What? How dare you!"

Hearing the Golden Diva's reaction, Goombella begins to think of something, _Good, I've got her mad now. All I've got to do is figure that into my strategy._

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Ludwig stands in the Royal Graveyard of his family, walking among the tombstones of his ancestors, looking for one in particular. He eventually comes to a stop at a rather new-looking tombstone. Very little weeds have formed around this particular stone, and the stone itself is not cracked at all.

"Dad," he starts, talking to the grave, "I don't know how you handled it. I always thought that, you know, I'd be a perfect leader for the Koopa Kingdom because of my intelligence, but it is hard to hold everything together during a time like this. I swear, I don't know who it was that killed you, but the murderer will be brought to justice eventually- I swear it. But between those invading Ninji, who've already managed to conquer most of the Mushroom Kingdom, and the return of Cackletta, I find myself in a rot. Everyone seems to be pointing fingers at me, and I have no doubt that the family will be overthrown if I do not do something fast. And if that were the case," he breaks up, tears starting to form at the thought, "then I would not consider myself worthy of being buried along the likes of you and our forefathers."


	15. Secrets

**Reunited**

Chapter 14: Secrets

Prince Peasley sneaks through the lower levels of Popple's ship, anxious to find out what kinds of things Popple hides in his quarters. Upon entering the room, he locks the door behind him and immediately sits down at his cohorts desk. He pulls out one drawer and sees what you would expect: pads of paper, pens, old photographs, and a few other things. Peasley, realizing that this drawer is not of importance, closes it and moves on to the next. Inside it Peasley is shocked to find tons of newspaper clippings. Confused, Peasley pulls one out and begins reading through it.

"Keelhaul Key destroyed!

Did arson break loose on the island inhabited by the ghost of Cortez, as well as a small group of settlers? Authorities were stunned to find that the entire island had been burnt to nothing but ash, with a can of gasoline being the only thing found at the scene of the crime. All of the sailors who had settled upon the island, as well as Cortez himself, have not been seen since the fire and are presumed to have been killed either in the blaze or while attempting to escape.- K. Koopa"

Peasley gasps, "Why would he keep a clipping of something like this?" Confused greatly, Peasley pulls out another. The date on this is much more recent.

"Destruction of Sierra Beach Hotel Planned?

Recently, King Doopliss of Sarasaland authorized a pirate known only as Captain Syrup to tear down this infamous tourist attraction in order to get a priceless artifact buried deep below the building. How long does this historic hotel have left to stand?"

Peasley, still not sure what is going on with this, pulls out another clipping to see if it will offer some hints.

"Infamous pirate captain and king of the Kremling race K. Rool was recently found dead alongside a yellow female Mouser who has yet to be identified but is believed to be Pipsy Mouse, who went missing around 2 months ago. Police currently have no leads but an investigation is currently underway."

"What is he up to?" Peasley wonders aloud before shutting that drawer and opening another. In this, he finds two bottles of pills, with one marked "F. Death" and the other labeled, "Revival." No sure of what these could be, Peasley shuts that drawer and moves on to the last one. Inside it, he finds a thick folder loaded with documents, and a piece of paper with what looks like a checklist. Peasley reads down the checklist, which has no true organization to it and appears to be random.

"Bobbery (check), Syrup, Flavio, Cortez (check), K. Rool (check), Jamano (check), Johnny Jones, Pa-Patch,..." Peasley continues to read down the list, noticing that every single name on the list was a famous pirate, and that most had been checked off- and that all of those who are checked off are dead.

"This doesn't make any..." Peasley opens up the folder and shudders in horror. Inside are a ton of bios of not just pirates, but people who have been found dead alongside each pirate that is checked off. And most gruesomely of all... crime scene photos. Peasley recognizes most of these- he was shown similar pictures each time a new death in the Pirate Hunter case was brought to his attention. As he shifts through bios of Bobbery and Johnny Jones and Flavio and Cortez and Pipsy and the many other names either on the checklist or who had been found dead alongside those checked off, he gasps in horror when he stops at one of the later bios.

"Name: Prince Peasley

Height: 5'9"

Weight: 182

Born: Beanbean Town, Beanbean Kingdom

Status: Bachelor

Occupation: Prince of the Beanbean Kingdom

Weapon of Choice: Rapier

Target: Jonathon Jones"

"No.." Peasley likely would scream if not for the fact that he knows that Popple would have his head that much quicker if he were to discover what he was doing. It was then that Peasley discovers something else in the drawer that causes him to become sick to his stomach. Pulling out a small jar, he notices a large yellow eyeball floating inside of it, which makes Peasley realize that not only is Popple evil, but he is also completely insane. He decides to put everything like he had found it and leave everything as it was, then expose Popple when the two reach civilization. After putting everything back the way it was the bean snuck off back to his room.


	16. Slave and Master

**Reunited**

Chapter 15- Slave and Master

The door flies open to a small warehouse inside of a huge abandoned factory, and into the building comes the Apprentice. Looking around at the many pieces of machinery and deactivated robots inside, she smiles evilly. The girl then flips the switches that turn the two artificial beings on.

"Mack, awake, we are?" Bowyer asks of his fellow awakened robot.

"I guess so..." Mack answers before beginning to bounce excitedly. The two then notice the Apprentice standing before them.

"Who, you are?"

"Your new master." With that, the Apprentice launches a small blue orb at the two which disappears immediately after impact, doing no damage to either.

"What was that?" Mack asks of the woman, confused.

"Simple. You'll do as told, or you'll crash. Do as I say, and I may grant you freedom one day. Now then, go to Toad Town and make some noise. I've got commitments elsewhere."

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"And what have you been doing all of these years anyway?" Cackletta asks of the bean, her long lost assistant Fawful. He has gotten himself shaved and cleaned up, and is now in a long white robe that trails behind him.

"I was taking a job asing a merchanter in the underness of Peach's castle. However, this was changing when knowledgeness was learned by me that the masterness was in the failing to bring destructioning upon Red and Green. Depressed became I, and I lost most fury while wondering while with despair. But then, I was meeting a bean who had the name of Popple who soon was changing the life of mine. This Popple was telling Fawful of the jewelsness, and explaineded to me his planness to conquering the sea. He also was telling me of your survival, and so coming here I did."

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"Get... back... here!" the Golden Diva wheezes, exhausted from trying to keep up with the Goomba schoolteacher.

"Not on your life!" Goombella replies before jumping into the air and kicking off a wall with her left foot, kicking the Diva with the right as she lands. As soon as she does this, Goombella begins to run again, slowly but surely taking the Golden Diva out.

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Popple and Peasley pull into a small harbor on the island on which the Barrel Volcano is located. As the two walk off of the ship, they see a green Podoboo floating before them.

"Hello, welcome to Barrel Island. Can I interest you two in a tour?"

"No thank you," Peasley replies, "We're here because we need to talk to Hinopio about something important." He continues to keep his mouth shut about Popple at the moment, saving this knowledge for whenever the two reach a bigger town/

"Oh, Hinopio?" the Podoboo asks in response, "He just left yesterday on his shop's annual world tour. You should be able to catch him up in Nimbus Land if you hurry."

"Ugh," Popple moans, "this is becoming a wild goose chase. Alright, fine. Any way to get there without going through Bean Valley?"

"Well, there is a lift that will take you there, but it is found inside the volcano. We just put it in a few months ago for adventurers who pass through."

"Sounds good," Peasley answers. "We'll stop by to take you up on that tour after our goal is completed."

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Wendy O. Koopa and her Cloudrunner fly through downtown Nimbus Land, blasting bolts of lighting at the buildings below and causing utter chaos. Just as the Koopa is about to launch an assault upon the palace itself, she feels a ball of ice hit her in the back of the head. Turning around, the Koopa sees a certain short black-hatted figure before her.

"Sorry, but I can't let Ludwig take over. It'd hurt the plan, see?" says Beldam as she launches an icey flurry at Wendy's ship. Most shots hit, but then Wendy blasts her with a bolt of lightning, blowing Beldam to the cloudy ground.

"Nice try, but that won't work."

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"You know, Popple," Peasley tells his comrade as the two hop along small islands floating in the midst of the magma, "I wouldn't be surprised if that Czar Dragon thing were still here somewhere."

"Bah, I doubt it. Mario and his friends killed that thing, remember?"

"I don't know... there's bound to be another one lurking around somewhere."

As the two reach the bridge and clearly see the lift just ahead, they also see something raising from the water.

"Well, glad I didn't bet money on that," Popple says as he draws his sword and begins to get a few free licks in on the Czar Dragon. Peasley, not wanting to risk fighting the beast (or rather, wanting to hurry up and reach Nimbus Land so as to expose the truth about the Pirate Hunter), merely grabs Popple by the forearm and pulls him over to the lift, with the two exiting the Barrel Volcano as the Czar Dragon stares up at them furiously.

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The Golden Diva continues to chase after the Goomba, but soon stops dead in her tracks, completely out of energy. Goombella, seeing this as her chance, let's fly with a Headbonk into the Diva's gut which causes her to be knocked to the ground. As the Diva lays on the floor unconscious, Goombella pulls out the shard and begins to look around for the door.


	17. Everlasting

**Reunited**

Chapter 16- Everlasting

"So, spill," Goombella tells Eggo as the group walks through the streets of the Dry, Dry Outpost while heading to the Warp Pipe in order to get back to E. Gadd's lab quickly. Goombella has the map in a small knapsack on her back, along with some items. "Tell me about this Glitz Pit promoter. Who is he?"

"I don't know," the Yoshi answers, "He's pretty new. The guy who replaced Jolene retired just over a month ago, and this fella just came in and is going along with what he originally came up with. What I do know, however..."

All attention turns to the Yoshi as he says this, "... is that the guy knows the entire story of what we're dealing with. I listened in on him once and heard him talking to someone about all kinds of things: the crystals, Cackletta, and some interesting comments about the Gate. At the time, I had no clue what he was talking about with all of this, but now I wonder what he has to do with it all."

Just then, Koops spoke up, "You know what? We should stop in at Koopa Village real quick and let everyone know that our quest is going well and all is fine. And of course, check in on my wife and egg."

"Sounds good," Goombella answers, "but we can't stay long. You know Cackletta likely has someone on the trail of one of the crystals by now."

"Actually, I'm quite surprised that no one has been sent after us yet," Vivian tells the rest of the group, "You would think that Cackletta would have sent after us by now."

"Maybe she doesn't know about our efforts?" Ms. Mowz suggests.

"No, she knows. Trust me, with the particular magic being used to keep her spirit bound to Plit, she has to know that we're getting involved in her affairs. The question is, what does she have to gain by not harming us?"

"Maybe she has a deal with someone," Goombella states, "Think about it: someone would have to be doing the work for her, and that someone would want something out of it. Could be that we're the payment."

"Seems plausible," the Koopa responds to the Goomba, "But I'm sure that there is likely something else she could get someone to do work for her using."

"Power, money, revenge, it could be anything. Could be that whoever is doing her work for her gets the crystals after she is done with them," Ms. Mowz points out. The conversation continues until they reach the warp pipe, where everyone jumps in. They all jump into the pipe, and there see the other two pipes as well as three ghosts: one enormous Boo, one ghost resembling a human man and dressed much like a Frenchman, and the last a normal Boo with a blue tongue hanging out of his mouth, glowing red eyes, and a crown made of gold. All three disappear upon being seen.

"Weird," Vivian says to her friends as the five enter the warp pipe. They come out in Koopa Village, and look around to see that all appears to be peaceful. They go inside of Koops's house and there see Koopie Koo looking depressed, though she immediately perks up upon seeing the heroes, or more specifically, her husband. She rushes over and gives him a hug excitedly. The heroes then begin to explain to her what is going on with their quest before Koopie Koo begins to explain what's been going on with her.

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Popple and Peasley jump off of the lift, and immediately notice that very few buildings in town are not in pieces. Before them, they see Beldam fighting Wendy's vehicle.

_Great, of all the luck,_ Peasley thinks before withdrawing his rapier and leaping into the battle himself to help out Beldam not because he knows her (he doesn't) but because he wants to stop any and all Koopalings he runs into. Popple does the same, and soon all three are working together against the Koopa.

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"I have fury!" Fawful screams out as he enters a small cave just outside of Smithy's factory. There, upon a stone chair, he sees a white-faced, blonde-haired human-looking creature.

"Cackletta was telling of me that you were having a jewel of helping to the cause of ours," the bean tells Deathnify, who chuckles in response.

"Of course I do, but I am not ready to part with it just yet, my strange talking friend. Instead, I have a preposition for you- if you help me with what I need, I'll cut you in on all the more... unnecessary fruits of my labor."

"What is this business of which you are speaking?"

"Simple. I have had for years a most fantastic greatest desire- namely, I wish to have all this world has to offer, and see all there is to see! How could this be done in even a lifetime as long as a demon such as I? Very easily, that's how. You see, there is an ancient legend that I believe could help me gain the immortality that I so desire! Do you understand? I want my hands on the ancient piece of history that all deep down inside in places not realized desire. I want the one thing in this world that will give me endless life and unabridged power. But I have no need for this item's other ability, namely to transform metallic materials into solid gold. Do you know what I am asking? You can have an unlimited supply of a most precious substance if you can find and supply me with..."

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"Well, I guess we'd better be leaving," Koops says, starting to get a bit emotional as he says this to his wife, "We'll try to stop in after we get the next jewel."

After everyone gives their goodbyes, the five heroes leave, and outside immediately see that Ludwig stands before them with an enormous army of guards behind him, all with weapons drawn.

"Thought you could get away with helping one of my criminals hide, did you?" Ludwig asks, his voice as though he's on the edge of sanity, "Guards, arrest them. If anyone resists, have their head."


	18. Cackletta Speaks

**Reunited**

Chapter 17- Cackletta Speaks

Eggo, Koops, Goombella, Vivian, and Ms. Mowz all ride in the back of a large truck, being carted to Ludwig's own dungeon for his own reasons.

"I can't believe this," Goombella tells the others as she sits with her back against the back wall of the truck. "All this work for nothing."

"I can't believe Ludwig would go through such drastic measures just for shielding someone who hasn't paid taxes whenever none of the money from it would have gone to him at the time anyway," Eggo answers as he lies on the floor.

Vivian, who is sitting in one of the corners, suddenly falls over, groaning and grasping onto her head. The others gasp and begin trying to figure out what happened. As Vivian sees nothing but pure darkness, she hears a voice- not her own- inside her head, _"See? It all works out my way, Vivian. You did the work, and now I'll just send my Apprentice to take those pesky jewels from Ludwig. Funny how it all works out, huh? She killed Bowser, and she will kill you too."_

Just as Vivian starts to come to, she hears Cackletta once more,_ "Oh, and by the way, you remember your friend Flurrie? My Apprentice killed her as well. And those two old men? Both are in the hospital because of her efforts. So just give up and accept your fate."_ Vivian's eyes open, and she looks at her friends, suddenly looking terrified.

"What happened?" Koops asks while holding Vivian up by her arm for support in case she is weakened.

"Cackletta was talking to me. She told me that her Apprentice, whoever that is, killed Bowser, and she'll kill us and-" Vivian begins to sob a bit, "And she killed Flurrie and put Gadd and Frankly in the hospital and..." Vivian suddenly breaks off.

Hearing this, everyone in the truck except Goombella begins to show signs of remorse, consoling each other as well as Vivian. Goombella breaks up the conversation by saying to her friends in order to bring them back to the realization of what this means, "Well, the first shot has been fired. Are you ready for the barrage?"

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Sometime later, the heroes arrive at what was once Peach's Castle but is now in Ludwig's property. As they are led out of the truck, Ludwig walks behind them. He goes with them to the dungeon where he sticks around after that guards leave.

"Trust me, I have been wanting to take my stress out on someone for a long time, and it's going to be you five. You'd be lucky to not be hung."

"Ludwig," Vivian starts, talking for the first time since she told the others what Cackletta had told her, "We know who killed your father. But if you don't let us out, they'll take over the world as we know it."

"I've heard of strange excuses to get out of prison, but this is something new! How is it you expect me to believe that you can actually help me get what I want more than anything else in this world?"

"Simple," Vivian answers with her head down, "I'll stay here while they go. If they do not bring you the killer within a month, you execute me."

"Vivian!" Goombella shouts out, shocked that her friend would even suggest such a thing.

"Fair enough."

Ludwig opens the door to the cell and, much to his surprise, Vivian does not attempt to escape. The others very reluctantly leave, only because they realize the world is on their shoulders. Ludwig closes the cell door once more before escorting the four out of the building.

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Goombella, Koops, Ms. Mowz, and Eggo walk around the side of the building with all of their possessions with them, getting ready to leave Toad Town and try to stop Cackletta. As soon as they round the building, all four friends see a sight that brings a smile to their faces, namely Vivian emerging from the shadows as is her specialty.

Upon seeing all of her friends startled and elated reactions, Vivian jokes, "What, did you think I didn't have a plan?


	19. Bow and Arrow

**Reunited**

Chapter 18: Bow and Arrow

Wendy lay on the clouds that form the streets of Nimbus Land, having been defeated by the conglomerate of Popple, Peasley, and Beldam.

"And who might you two be?" Beldam asks quite snappishly of the two Beans.

"I'm Prince Peasley, and this is Popple," the prince answers. "And you are?"

"Beldam," she answers. "I appreciate the help and all, but if you'll excuse me, I've gotta get going to the Barrel Volcano. Something there I need to take care of."

"We need to go that way as well," Peasley answers. "We might as well work together there too."

"No, I don't think you would want any part of what it is I need to do. For someone like you two, it could quite possibly kill you both."

"Well then, we'll just be going the other way then," Popple says, speaking up for the first time since the end of the fight. "We have someone we need to find here in town anyway."

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As the heroes walk into the main area of Toad Town, they are shocked to see a tall, odd-looking figure with red and yellow stripes on his body firing arrows with his body as the bow. This shocks them not because this is happening, but because it is the same person they had all- sans Ms. Mowz- seen in their dreams a few nights earlier.

"Nyah! Thinking I was that getting rid of all I did! A mistake made I! Change that, I will!" Bowyer launches two arrows at the group. One hits Koops, and another misses Goombella by just an inch or two. Bowyer begins to fire even more arrows as Ms. Mowz, Koops, Goombella, and Vivian all do what they can to dodge (Koops is frozen in place by the arrow's magic, of course). While running, Goombella manages to hit a quick Headbonk on Bowyer, but is immediately shot with an arrow for her troubles.

"Looks like things are warming up!" Vivian shouts before her hand starts to glow as flames encircle it. She throws a ball of fire at Bowyer, who is sent flying back-first into the ground.

"Annoying, you are! Not fair, your magic is! Even will be things!" Bowyer throws a small square into the air and shoots it with an arrow as it flies back down. When Vivian tries to throw a second fireball, she discovers all she can manage is a spark.

"Nyah! Ability blocking, my specialty is! By an arrow put your place will be you!" Bowyer launches an arrow at Vivian, who is hit dead-on, leaving only Ms. Mowz and Eggo capable of fighting.

"Still thinking you are that defeatable I am? Nyah! At your pitiful attempts I laugh!"

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Beldam goes through the streets of Nimbus Land, eyeing the damage before heading into the volcano. As she traverses the streets, she sees a flier laying on the ground. The date on it is for just a few hours away from the present time, and on it is a pinkish purple Crazee Dayzee. The flier reads, "One night only in Flower Fields, Insanee Dayzee presents Insanee la Opera."

Beldam chuckles for a second before enveloping the flier in a burst of ice. "Guess I'm going to an opera. I'll have to carry out my plans for the Barrel Volcano later."

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Eggo throws an egg at the eccentric bow as the fight continues, while Ms. Mowz stays out of the way of the fight, waiting for her moment to strike. As Bowyer repeatedly tries to hit the green Yoshi with an arrow as said Yoshi uses his exceptional speed to dodge, Mowz sneaks behind Bowyer and does exactly what could be expected of a mouse in a fight against a living bow: she gnaws his string.

"Off me, you get! Youch!" shouts Bowyer frantically as the thief continues to attempt to bite his string in half. Taking advantage of the distraction, Eggo attaches his tongue to his Koopa Troopa partner, swinging Koops's shell at Bowyer face-first at an amazing speed, knocking Bowyer out cold. This also, not surprisingly, removes the curse from Koops, Goombella, and Vivian. After proper congrats are given out, Goombella pulls out the map and sees on it an arena very near Toad Town: specifically, Flower Fields. The crystal is shown as being within the Flower Fieldhouse, a theater there. She shows the others this particular spot, and they decide to leave immediately for Flower Fields.


	20. Fire and Ice

**Reunited**

Chapter 19: Fire and Ice

Beldam raises from the shadows in the Flower Fieldhouse, seeing a purple Crazee Dayzee standing onstage staring at the pink jewel affixed in the center of a pendent hung around her neck. She looks up at the shadowy figure that has just arisen, and laughs.

"So, you want my jewel too, huh? Well, you'll get it over my dead body!"

"That can be arranged," Beldam answers sarcastically while not even bothering to make eye contact with the plant girl, instead keeping her eyes locked on the pink jewel within her pendent.

"Err... ever since I found this jewel, everything about me has gotten better! I'm tough, I'm a heartthrob, and I'm the greatest opera starlet Plit has ever known! And I won't let you change that! You will make for a suitable dress rehearsal before the big show!"

Beldam merely charges up a ball of ice, which she heaves at the Dayzee, who deflects the attack back at her with her pendent.

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The party of five that is Goombella, Vivian, Koops, Ms. Mowz, and Eggo stands just outside the Flower Fieldhouse, listening for any kind of indication of who or what might be inside. They can clearly tell there's a fight waging on, and they suddenly hear a shout from inside, "Hold still, you stupid flower!"

"I know that voice!" Vivian exclaims, realizing who it is though she's not sure why exactly she should be happy that it's Beldam of all people inside. The five charge inside and there see that Beldam is in the midst of taking a beating from vines that are emerging from the floor and being seemingly controlled by Insanee's dancing. The flower spots the five as they enter, as does Beldam.

"Vivian!" Beldam shouts to her younger sister. "Get over here and help me with this stupid thing!"

The heroes are a bit dumbstruck at seeing Beldam there, much less asking for their help. But either way, the heroes oblige, and soon the six are all working to stop Insanee Dayzee. Goombella jumps in for a Headbonk on the flower, but is caught by one of the diva's vine-like creatures which wraps around her feet and thrusts Goombella headfirst into one of the seats, knocking her out. Eggo whips out an egg and throws it toward Insanee, but the plant retaliates via having a vine slap it back at the Yoshi, knocking the fighter to the ground and into unconsciousness. Koops comes charging in to tackle the Dayzee, and meets the same fate as the Goomba did. Ms. Mowz decides to try to sneak up on the flower using her small size, but that results in one of the vines using her for a golf ball.

Vivian looks at her sister, who begins throwing balls of ice at the Dazee. Vivian joins in and soon the flower is being bombarded by both fire and ice. The vines move in front of Insanee to protect her, and suddenly said vines begin to cave inward, going into the purple Dazee and beginning to emerge from her wrists and consume the theater.

"You... you will not escape here alive!" she shouts as the vines begin to shake, making the building rumble as if there is an earthquake occurring directly beneath it. Both Vivian and Beldam try continually to get in a strike, but the rumbling floor causes all of their shots to be horribly off focus. Seeing this, Beldam begins to shake uncontrollably, much to Vivian's shock as she wonders what her sister is doing. Suddenly, Beldam explodes into a cloud of purple vapor as Vivian merely stares in awe. The cloud of gas floats over Insanee and reforms into Beldam, who on her way falling downward causes freezing rain to emerge from her hands, doing severe damage to the plant that is Dazee. The vines begin to shrivel up, and Dazee stumbles over her own feet and lands in a heap on the floor as the vines retract back into her wrists. Dazee pulls herself to her feet, as she does Beldam grabs the pendent and rips it off of her, causing the chain to cut her neck a little. Beldam then freezes her hand over and uppercuts Dayzee, knocking her out cold.

"Beldam, since when can you do that!"

"I've learned a few new tricks, what can I say? Now then, Vivian, I've got something to tell you about the death of your stupid friend."

"Hmm?"

"Mario was weakened when he fought Bowser. That's why he lost. That's why he died."

"How do you know?"

"Who do you think did the deed? I'd gone into Bowser's Castle to take care of some business. I ran into him in the hallway there. We fought, I left, and he went on to fight Bowser."

"You mean... well, Beldam, can we have that jewel? We need it for something very, very, very important."

"No, Vivian. No you cannot. My needs are far more necessary to carry out."

And with that, Beldam hits her freezing uppercut on her younger sister, leaving Vivian lying along with the others. She charges up a ball of ice and considers finishing them off, but instead scoffs before leaving the building through the door. Little does she know that another being awaits on the rooftops, ready to strike at her.

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Doopliss rides in an old carriage drawn by Mastadooms (his choice; he didn't like the idea of horses drawing his carriage, so he went with those instead). He finally reaches his destination, a small town in the wilderness by the name of Brookebell. The name for this town is a bit misleading as there is not a brook anywhere near the town, but there is an old bell tower behind\ which is a colossal sword: the remnants of Exor.

"This is the place," Doopliss tells the driver, a Koopa Troopa by the name of Kook. The carriage stops, and Doopliss steps out, a shock to the people of this town that is not even remotely famous.

"Greetings, people," he says as the townsfolk begin to crowd around him and his carriage. "I am here to run an inspection on that bell tower. A source told me that there is something inside it I may be interested in."


	21. At Death's Door

**Reunited**

Chapter 20- At Death's Door

"I attacked some fool who had the jewel," the Apprentice tells Cackletta as she holds the yellow jewel before her before laying it with the others. "Poor girl never stood a chance."

"Excellent job. Now then, right now I think you should go after the Death Jewel."

"Good. Then to Brookebell shall I go," the Apprentice replies imitating her minion Bowyer before exploding into a cloud of smoke, reforming as a bat that flies off into the distance toward Exor.

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Goombella's eyes open, and she sits up to realize that she is not in the theater but rather in an underground cave next to a warp pipe. She looks to see that her friends are also just awakening. Before them stands... a green dinosaur.

"Yoshi?" Goombella asks while standing up.

"Uh huh. I came for that play, but I got the time wrong and came a few hours early. I recognized you and saw that map of yours, so I brought you to a warp pipe that will lead to one of them."

"Thank you, Yoshi. Do you want to come along to help out?" Koops asks as he and the others also pull themselves to their feet.

"Sorry, no can do. I have to get back to where I've been staying at. Important business that needs to be taken care of, plus I have to hurry up and stop Syrup."

"Syrup?" Ms. Mowz wonders aloud. "What does she have to do with Cackletta?"

"Nothing really. I just have to stop her plan or Cackletta will make Syrup's matters her business."

After a bit more discussion, the heroes part ways with Yoshi and go into the warp pipe.

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Doopliss walks quickly up the steps inside of the old forsaken bell tower, hearing the steps rattling as he walks. Cobwebs cover the halls of the enormous building, and little light escapes through the boarded-up windows. As he reaches the top, he sees what could, and probably should, be of interest: a glowing red circle (looking a bit like a rock of some sort) drawn on a wall in chalk with seven different animals surrounding it also drawn in chalk, though the drawings are so crudely drawn that Doopliss is unable to tell any besides a drawing of a snake. He lays his hand on the glowing red spot and suddenly feels lighter, then feels the air being sucked out of his lungs as he flies through a bizarre wave of some sort, seemingly reduced to nothing but light. Doopliss finally lands and returns to a normal feeling as he sees that no longer is he in the bell tower but rather in a vortex of what appears to be nothingness, with nothing in sight besides some floating platforms and a ton of machinery. He turns around and sees a certain demon looking back at him with a bizarre alarm clock shaped like a door hanging around his neck.

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The heroes manage to see Doopliss being sucked in as they round the corner, having run all the way to the bell tower and up its stairs (unlike Doopliss, they hadn't stopped to do an actual inspection). They touch the circle for themselves and find themselves in the same location, seeing no sign of Doopliss or Deathnify. They begin to walk through the odd space of Smithy's domain, all but Ms. Mowz recognizing it as the same locale from their dream. Behind the five is a bat, watching the distance and knowing of what is to ensue. The five eventually after walking through what feels like an eternity of deserted machinery reaches a laboratory, outside of which lies Doopliss who looks to be unconscious.

"Ms. Mowz, go try to find a way out and get him some help," Goombella tells the mouse.

"Got it," she answers before half-carrying the king of Sarasaland back the way they came. As she drags him away, Goombella, Vivian, Koops, and Eggo all head into the factory with a certain bat following.

Inside, they all see Bowyer doing repairs on himself at a small machine, one of the few that is in working condition. He spots them, but chooses to offer a taunt rather than attack. "Nyah! Repairing am I in need of, but vengeance carried out will I see to."

They for the most part ignore him and continue, eventually reaching the back room of the lab, which has a large hole in the middle of the floor and no other leads. They jump down in not having any other leads, and there immediately see Deathnify standing, looking at the clock in mesmerization. He then thrusts his head back and laughs evilly before beginning to glare at them, swaying his neck left and right to cause the clock to move like a pendulum.

"Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock," the demon taunts as the four all stop dead in their tracks. The Apprentice, wise to this trick, has her eyes closed tightly. Suddenly the swaying stops, and, as the heroes continue to be stupefied, he points at each one at a time, saying only one word.

"Mall," he says to Goombella first, causing the Goomba to fall over in a coma-like sleep.

"Dragon." Same happens to Koops.

"Rawk." Same for Eggo.

"Sisters." And Vivian joins the others. Immediately after Deathnify is done and the four all lie in a deep trance, the Apprentice resumes her standard, non-bat form. Deathnify, not surprised, moves in for a quick strike which the Apprentice handily dodges.


	22. The Sword and the Philosopher's Stone

**Reunited**

Chapter 21- The Sword and the (Philosopher's) Stone

Goombella, or rather a two-year-old version of her, walks through the empty mall of her recurring dream from younger days. She can see people outside, people in the shops, but none seem to notice her.

"Wh... where..." she mumbles as tears start to well up in her eyes. She continues to search, not finishing her sentence.

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The Apprentice knocks Deathnify to the ground with an uppercut before sliding in for another, which is thwarted by the demon as he bends backwards with his arms supporting him. As the girl charges a ball of ice, the demon kicks up, kicking her in the chin and taking to standing on his hands. Deathnify does a flip and lands directly on his feet, then charges in for a huge tackle, only for the Apprentice to barely get out of his way.

"You're the best opponent I've had in 70 years or so," Deathnify says mockingly before scoring with a hard kick using his right leg, "Most are dead by now. I must say, none of the things I've heard about you ever mentioned you were so capable a fighter."

"Trust me, I've fought lots of people a lot better than you."

"Like who? Your tasks for Cackletta have been ridiculously simple, besides your encounter with my illusion. And who else has really been worth mentioning? You've never done battle with anyone worthy of mentioning in the same breath as m-" but he is cut off by a furious tackle from the Apprentice which sends both into the red soil.

"All that matters now is that Cackletta gives me what I want."

"And how does that matter?" he asks before thrusting the girl off of him. "Your idiotic quest is nothing compared to my dream of immortality. In fact, I tried to convince that little green guy who works for your boss to help me out, but he turned me down. Something about not desiring gold. Can't say I blame him."

"You seek immortality? Impossible! The only way that can truly be achieved is-" but the Apprentice is cut off by an uppercut by the demon.

"Oh, I plan on doing exactly what you're thinking. I've even made arrangements for when, where, and who will be on the list. You could qualify, but I'm afraid they have to be done in order and yours would come last. So, I'll just take your soul just like I'm doing to these four."

"If you're truly going to attempt that, I hope you realize there's another trying to get the same thing. Well, doing that and killing a bunch of pirates for some reason or another." And with that, the Apprentice throws a ball of ice at Deathnify, who rolls out of the way.

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Popple looks through a thick book while the ship is anchored, studying the details within the book in great detail.

"I don't know why," he speaks aloud as he skims over it, but I have the feeling there is some extremely important detail that I forgot..." He suddenly feel something cold pressed against his neck lightly and turns slightly to see what it is. In the corner of his (actual) eye, he sees Peasley with his rapier pointed at him, the tip touching his neck.

"Hold it, Popple. I know the truth about what you've been up to, and who you are. Now turn the ship around and set sail for the Beanbean Kingdom and I'll do what I can to keep you out of the gallows. Deal?"

Popple answers this in a most bizarre way by beginning to laugh uncontrollably before saying in a mocking tone, "Boy, when you've been in as many Mexican standoffs as I have you know how to get out of this kind of thing." With a burst of agility, Popple spins around and uses his glass eye to knock Peasley's rapier out of his hand. As Peasley reaches to grab it, he comes face-to-face with the blade of Popple's sword. Thinking quickly, he ducks as it is propelled toward him before kicking the Pirate Hunter in the gut. Peasley grabs his sword and gets back up.

"So, you found out, huh? Do you know what I did to the last person who found out about my plans, Peasley?"

"I have an idea, you sick, twisted freak."

"No, I didn't kill him, you simple-minded fool. I've got him held up underneath my home base of sorts up on Mount Nevermore in the Delfino Isles. I plan to sacrifice him as soon as I've got all the makings I need to create the Philosopher's Stone."

"The what?"

"Brilliant thing actually. It can cure any disease, correct any injury, bring immortality, and most importantly of all, turn any substance into solid gold!"

"I knew you were insane, but I didn't know you were stupid too. Just tell me this, why go after all the pirates? What did you have to gain?"

"Men of the seas are types who generally travel a lot, right? Well, once I started my research on the stone, I decided that I had to eliminate anyone who would be likely to spread the news around the globe. After all, if it were to be known that I had an endless supply of solid gold, the value would drop dramatically! Gold would mean absolutely nothing, probably even less than these cheap imitation coins everyone uses! Why, I'd be defeating the point! But with them all dead, there's no way the news would spread except by newspaper and PNN, and there's no way either source would bother with such a highly improbable story! But by sailor, my name and wealth could be spread. Learning of the ability to create endless gold would cause the selling price of it to become extremely low, if people were to even be willing to pay for it. That's why when I printed my research, I only gave it out to my fellow Brothers of the Stone and I used a pseudonym."

Popple then swings at Peasley, who manages to block with his rapier before grabbing Popple's arm by his free hand and throwing the Bean into the sea below. Peasley looks down, only to see Popple climbing the chain of the anchor, trying to reboard the vessel. Thinking quickly, Peasley dropped the book off the ship, hitting the Bean in the face and causing him to fall into the salty depths below. Peasley then began to as quickly as possible pull the anchor up with a crank next to it. He manages to get it back up, and Popple emerges from the ocean to see his ship leaving without him.

"This isn't over Peasley. Not yet..."

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	23. Dreams

**Reunited**

Chapter 22- Dreams

Vivian stands on a bridge that covers a gigantic fountain, fighting for her life. All of her friends lie unconscious on the ground, as does Doopliss. It is left with just her against both Beldam and Marilyn.

"Come on, Vivian! You're just delaying the inevitable!" Beldam yells as she uses her magic to shrink Vivian. Both of the older sisters begin thrusting ice and lightning respectively at their younger sibling, who does everything she can to dodge.

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"Gonzalez! Gonzalez!"

Despite the chanting, Eggo continues to be beaten senseless by Rawk Hawk. He knows it's all up to him to beat the bird and get the first jewel, but it's all hopeless. Rawk Hawk isn't showing any signs of pain after even Eggo's strongest attacks, and at this point the dinosaur could barely move due to the amount of punishment he had taken. Looking at the cheering faces of his three companions who were in the audience, Eggo decides that he must keep fighting and charges in for another strike, only to be hit by Rawk Hawk's signature flying tackle.

"Not... yet..." the Yoshi groans, still struggling to survive, still struggling to not let his friends down.

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Koops runs, struggling to prevent himself from befalling the same fate that his father had. But it is no use, it seems, as Hooktail continues to attempt to bring about the destruction of the intruder in her castle. Still, his father is only part of the reason Koops is risking life and limb in an impossible fight- he wants to not just gain revenge, but to protect his fellow residents of Petalburg. To protect Koopie Koo. For he cannot imagine losing her but knows it would happen eventually if Hooktail continues to devour the residents of the small village.

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"I'll give you some credit," the Apprentice tells Deathnify as she continues to battle him, though neither can seem to keep their opponent still long enough to get in more than one or two hits, "I never knew there was someone out there more cruel than myself."

"I bet if you had the chance to get what you want, you wouldn't. Which is exactly _why_ I am more cruel than you. I won't hesitate to kill anyone."

"Don't be ridiculous. I'm working for Cackletta right now for that very reason! And what about that rumor that's spread through the grape vine for so many years of what happened to be your most embarrassing moment, Dante?"

"How DARE you refer to me by that wretched name! I curse that name and my parents too! I am simply Deathnify, with no family name."

"Then why didn't you kill them when you had the chance?"

"Because I for one at least have some sort of honor. What about you? What about all of those years of what you've done? I would never harm my family, even if I do despise them."

"At least I stick to realistic goals and follow ancient scrolls to find what I need. You, you probably got your info from that stupid book that C. P. Cornello put out about the stone, didn't you? Let me guess, you stole it off some member of the group when you realized that it offered what you wanted."

"And so what if I did? The author quite apparently knows his stuff, and I later checked some scrolls and found that they matched, besides the detail about transmuting that the book mentions. I always knew that alchemy stuff was just a stupid predecessor to modern chemistry." Deathnify suddenly surprises the Apprentice by transforming so as to have blades instead of hands, then hits her with one's side, knocking her to the ground. As he stands over her ready to launch the final strike, she punches the clock around his neck, temporarily freezing the demon in place. As the clock starts to glow, she yells out, "Goombella!"

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Goombella continues to run through the empty mall, crying her eyes out and trying to find her mother at all costs. As she continues to do this, she suddenly stops dead in her tracks upon seeing a bat appear before her. The bat's mouth opens and a gentle, somewhat motherly voice emerges, saying simply in tone, "Grow up, Goombella!"

Hearing these words, the crying suddenly stops. Goombella then feels her memories of later years returning. She returns to her normal size and age in the dream, then wakes up.

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Goombella's eyes open just long enough to make out the silhouettes of the Apprentice and Deathnify and nothing more before the Goomba goes back to sleep, though this time in an actual state rather than in a coma-like form of having her soul ripped out.

Deathnify, who suddenly regains mobility, is distracted by this just long enough for the Apprentice to throw him off of her. She pulls herself to her feet and then uses a trick she very rarely whips out: entering the Shadows. She does so, and reemerges next to the sleeping Goomba, picking her up just long enough to set her down in a safer area.

"So, you saved one, huh? I'm shocked. What would Cackletta say to that?" he asks mockingly, having known she would attempt it if given the chance anyway.

"I saved her just because Cackletta has bigger plans for all of them. And I'll save the others too."

Deathnify, bored with all the talk, transforms once more back into his original form. He then charges at the Apprentice, who shoots a blast of ice at the ground directly in his path. Not to be outdone, Deathnify enters the Shadows himself, emerging behind her. He grabs her by the neck and just as the demon is about to finish Cackletta's apprentice off, she headbutts the clock.

"Koops!"

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Koops dodges a blast of fire from Hooktail, having given up hope of defeating the dragon and now just trying to delay his inevitable death. As he tries for another useless Shell Shot, a bat appears before him. Instead of speaking in the gentle voice she'd used with Goombella, the Apprentice this time used a more forceful tone, "You did this before and won."

Hearing this suddenly fills the Koopa with all of is memories from before.

"I did this before... I've beaten Hooktail before!" The Koopa then launches yet again with his Shell Shot, this time doing damage like never before and KO'ing the dragon before him.

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Just like Goombella, Koops awakens for a second before going into a more peaceful rest. The Apprentice takes advantage of Deathnify letting go to grasp the clock while kneeling over in pain, grabbing Koops and laying him next to Goombella.

"Okay, I suppose a direct approach isn't getting the job done. Fine, try this on for size!" Deathnify shapeshifts once more, transforming from his standard human-like build and becoming a tall wooden puppet-like doll wearing a blue cloak and cape. The clock still dangles from his neck.

"Life is a WHIRLwind, huh?" the demon asks tauntingly as a magical yellow chain shoots from the airspace before him and straight at the Apprentice, who just barely ducks out of the way of the attack. She then fires a ball of a strange green goo out of her hands and toward the clock which, like the other two strikes in the clock, stuns the demon temporarily.

"Eggo!"

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Eggo lies on the floor of the Glitz Pit while Rawk Hawk stands in the ring taking a breather, though it isn't as though he really needs it. As Eggo pulls himself up once more, the bat once again appears, this time speaking in a concerned tone, "You knocked him out once. You can do it again."

As Eggo pulls himself to his feet, he realizes that he can, in fact, beat the champion. He jumps into the ring and hops onto Rawk Hawk's shoulders, performing the choke he had used in their actual battle. Unlike before, Eggo this time leans back a bit not only to add more pressure but to keep the Hawk from reaching him. Eggo squeezes for a few seconds before the Hawk finally collapses.

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Eggo's eyes open and he sees only shadows before falling asleep. Deathnify this time drops to one knee, struggling to breathe. Taking use of the injury inflicted, the Apprentice rushes forth and punches Gateway once more, this time shouting out, "Vivian!"

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Vivian had managed to knock out Marilyn, but she still is having troubles with her oldest sister Beldam. As both continually try to defeat the other, the Apprentice lands on Vivian's shoulder, whispering in the same tone she had used on Koops, "You did this before and won, Vivian. Do it again."

Vivian suddenly feels her memories returning and runs forward, nailing Beldam with a few flaming uppercuts before finally wrapping everything up with a fireball right in the stomach, knocking the oldest Shadow Siren out cold.

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Vivian awoke just the same as the others, and fell asleep just the same. As Deathnify began to scream while grasping his heart, the Apprentice reaches into his pocket and pulls out the black jewel, then shoots a ball of ice at him that sends the demon flying into a dark pit below. She knows he will live, but at least the KO will leave him incapacitated for numerous hours, if not days considering the pain inflicted by Gateway backfiring. She considers killing the heroes at the moment and solving the problem, but instead grabs Goombella's backpack and pulls out a few things: the map, the sole jewel they had obtained, a pen, and a travel log. She flips to a blank page in the log and rips it out, then scribbles on it, "I saved you. Feel honored. -Cackletta's Apprentice" before laying it on top of the Goomba's body along with the pen and log. She considers taking the jewel and map as well.

"I might as well give them some leeway," she sighs before laying both on the ground as well. She transforms into a bat and takes flight.


	24. Sea No Evil

**Reunited**

Chapter 23: Sea No Evil

It doesn't make sense. That's all Vivian can come up with as her and her friends (including Ms. Mowz, who found them asleep in the Gate and woke them up) walk through an underground cave wherein is a warp pipe leading to their next destination, the Sea.

"Why would Cackletta's apprentice help us out?" Vivian asks aloud, though there are other matters moreso on her mind than that.

"Hard telling," Goombella answers. "My guess is that Cackletta still has some sort of use for us."

"Why wouldn't she take the jewel we had then?" Ms. Mowz points out. "It seems to me like that reeks of some sinister plot, or perhaps pity."

"Well, we at least know she apparently took the jewel Deathnify had," Koops breaks in. "Judging from all that, I would say it was pity."

"I doubt it," Eggo adds. "If she was willing to kill Flurrie without mercy, and even attacked two old men and put them in the hospital, I doubt she has any sense of mercy. Perhaps she decided that she wanted us to live in order to do some of the work hunting them down for her, thus the reason she didn't take the map either."

"But why leave us with that jewel?" Goombella asks, puzzled. "She could have saved herself time and effort doing that."

"Well, assuming that she was the bat who took the belt in Glitzville, and the jewel she stole from Deathnify, that makes two of seven. We only have one. We need to hurry up and find-" Vivian says before being interrupted by Ms. Mowz, who has opened the map.

"According to this," the rodent begins to point out, "she apparently has more than that." The others stop and crowd around the mouse, looking at it for themselves. "See? Four of them are in the same place now, while the other two are in the same places as the last time we looked."

"Wait a second..." Vivian trails off, "I guess she attacked Beldam once she took the jewel from Insanee Dayzee then, and found another. Makes sense: the magic keeping Cackletta bound to this world enables her to be all-seeing, or at least in details dealing with her, so naturally this Apprentice person would have shown up to collect. Seeing through a window or a cracked door that there were 6 of us working together, she likely waited and sneak-attacked my sister on her way out the building."

"It's a stretch, but that's the best explanation we've got," Koops answers. The five continue on, eventually reaching and entering the warp pipe.

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The Apprentice lays the black jewel on the pedestal with the other three, then begins to speak to Cackletta. "I decided to leave those five with their stupid map and the one jewel they have obtained. Might as well give them incentive to come here," she tells her leader.

"I question your wisdom in this matter, but I suppose we'd be better off letting them supply us with the others anyway. I've been thinking it is time we relocate now; this old dilapidated mansion will not serve my needs for a temporary palace for my imminent resurrection. Leave them to bring the other two, as well as the one th have, to us."

"I will, Cackletta. So, what do you want me to do for now?"

"Go ahead and get the hand and the jewels packed up and get my soul attached to something more portable than this wall. Fawful, Bowyer, and Sharm have already been sent out to search for a suitable new residence."

"Pity for the Shaman, I suppose."

"By the way, whatever happened to Mack?"

"Oh yeah, him. Mack was sent to check out some forest to grab some type of rare mushroom for me. I hear they can be sold for a decent price, and I could use some money if I'm going to blend in to handle my next undertaking after I get what I want."

"And that is?"

"I plan to launch an inside-assault on Ludwig after I'm done with your work. With the Mushroom Kingdom's leader being overthrown for the second time in just over a month, I would naturally very easily be able to take the throne."

"Good. Then I suppose you want the Mushroom Kingdom to be included as part of your share of the power?"

"Exactly. And even more importantly, I want Dark Land."

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"Alright Sugar Pirates!" Syrup shouts to her many minions as they all stand on the deck of her ship, which is docked at Serena Beach. "It is nearing the time we have been awaiting! All proper arrangements have been made, and the destruction of the hotel shall commence in exactly 3 days. It would be sooner, but the bulldozer needs a new engine."

"Aye!" the troops of the pirate shout in response.

"I also learned that Doopliss has been checked into a hospital in Brookebell for an indefinite time, so this will be our perfect opportunity to escape with the jewel!"

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The heroes emerge from the warp pipe leading into the Sunken Ship and exit the door leading out into the first corridor of the ship cautiously. Outside, they immediately see that the ghouls aboard the ship are still intact as Greapers, Dry Bones, and numerous other creatures of the night all wander aimlessly as if searching for something.

"What's with the ghosts?" Eggo asks of the others, not knowing much of the ship itself.

"According to legend, they're the lost souls of those who died when King Kalimari wrapped itself around the ship. Most sacrificed themselves in an effort to imprison it aboard the ship. They succeeded, but there were no survivors. They say that they're in a vengeful search of their captain, who had jumped ship in the only raft immediately after the squid attacked," Goombella answers. The five begin to quest through the halls and are pretty much ignored by the ghouls besides eliciting a glance or two.

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The five eventually reach a cabin completely void of any ghosts, skeletons, or rats. There, next to a locked door, is a yellow pipe.

"Tell the password and you may pass!" it bellows, and Goombella thinks back to a discussion she once had with Mario about his adventure on the ship.

"Let me think... Pearls?" Goombella guesses, not entirely sure but confident nonetheless.

"Correct." The door slides open.

"King Kalimari is inside there, isn't he?" Koops asks, anxious to get the task finished with.

"Exactly," Vivian answers, "And we'd better be sure to stop that apprentice of Cackletta's from getting any more."

"I have a question, Vivian," Goombella starts suddenly, "If Cackletta can get into our heads, can't she then read our minds?"

"No, not at all. She can only enter my head because, as she is currently being powered by dark arts and I am created from them, we are united by the same forces, or basically the equivalent of blood. Even with that, there's no way she can tell if one of us has a major plan unless we say it aloud."

"I don't want to think about what might happen if she does succeed in coming back," Ms. Mowz shudders.

"Let's get goin'!" Eggo shouts as the five enter the room containing King Kalimari. There, three tentacles immediately launch, sending Goombella, Vivian, and Eggo all flying out of the room with the door slamming shut behind them.

"Guess it's up to us," Koops tells his mouse companion as the two charge at the tentacles.

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Ludwig walks through the halls of his primary military training camp, his old fortress in Pipe Land. He reaches the Lieutenant Colonel of his army, his younger brother Roy.

"What are you doing here?" Roy snaps, something he still does frequently to this day.

Ludwig would likely laugh if not for his mood, instead answering with, "Doopliss is in the hospital after an ambush. Prep the troops and take Sarasaland by force." He can do this any time, even if Sarasaland were to know weeks in advance, but Ludwig is a mood of wanting to take his aggression out on anyone. And why shouldn't he be? His father had died, his sister was critically injured, one of his finest ships was destroyed, and now the prisoner he had planned as a scapegoat escaped.

"Kind of short notice, isn't it?" Roy mumbles before turning and walking away to do just that. Ludwig snarls a bit, then turns to leave the building.

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Koops and Ms. Mowz have successfully taken down two of the first three tentacles, and the third isn't in the best condition either. Just outside the door, the other three all have their ears (or lack thereof) pressed against the door, listening to see how things go. Koops launches a Shell Shot on the tentacle, his fourth on this particular limb, and just afterwards Ms. Mowz launches a fury of rapid bites and scratches at it. The tentacle's flailing finally ceases and it stops moving like the other two.

The Koopa and the mouse run over and unlock the door, knocking on the door before opening it so as to warn the other three.

"You two took care of those three, huh?" Goombella asks, impressed.

"Not exactly easy," Koops admits, "but we did it."

"Now let's get going, shall we?" Ms. Mowz shouts, breaking up the conversing as the five all run forward to the next three. Between Koops's shell, Vivian's fire, Eggo's eggs, Goombella's Headbonks, and Ms. Mowz's trapped-like-an-animal way of fighting, all three fall extremely quickly. The five run forth once more, reaching the head of the beast itself.

Goombella immediately hits a Headbonk on the creature, causing it to let off a terrifying wail before smacking the Goomba with one of its two remaining tentacles. She is knocked backwards a few feet, and Koops comes flying in immediately afterward with his patented Shell Shot, doing a bit of damage. He launches once more and as the shell zooms toward its target, Vivian uses her magic to light it aflame, doing amount of damage. Eggo then throws two eggs into the air, and Ms. Mowz and Goombella both jump up and kick said eggs directly at the tentacles. By this point the wailing of the King Kalimari is almost unbearable. It launches its two tentacles directly toward the group, only for Vivian to use her magic to light both like some kind of fuse. The fire runs up both tentacles and reaches Kalimari himself, causing the creature to finally black out. Vivian then slips into the shadows and comes out a few seconds later with the jewel that King Kalimari had hidden underneath him.

"Just one more," Goombella says while her and the others all look like they are somehow both anxious and eager, "One more and it will be time to confront them."

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"It looks like this next jewel is on Isle Delfino, specifically Sierra Beach," Ms. Mowz points out as she reads the map while the heroes walk through the streets of Rogueport.

"Great. All we have to do is go there and-" Eggo starts but is interrupted by Goombella.

"Not that simple. There are no warp pipes leading out of the country in Isle Delfino."

"Why?" the Yoshi asks.

"Simple. Warp pipes tend to crack in places when they go too long. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but with pipes going undersea this could cause a world-wide flood that would be basically unstoppable. That's why all of the pipes in the Delfino Islands only go a short distance," Koops answers for the Goomba.

"STEP RIGHT UP AND RIDE THE DEATHRAIL!" they suddenly hear a somewhat sinister voice shout over the train intercom set up in town. The five, knowing something is up, run to the station and immediately see that the Excess Express has been converted into a somewhat demonic form and appears to be some sort of living creature. A Beanbean man with long green hair, a pink eye mask, and a glass eye stands on the platform holding a somewhat dim red stone in his left hand.

"It may be imitation, but this will get the job done for now!" Popple shouts to no one in particular. He then spots the five heroes.

"So someone lived, huh? Deathrail, take care of these urchins!"

The train lets out a demonic howl much like what it would sound like if a train's howl was accompanied by a pipe organ before launching at the heroes, who just barely dodge.

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Ludwig sits in his throne room with his phone in hand, eagerly awaiting the call from Roy telling him the invasion is a success. As Ludwig impatiently taps his claws on the left side of the chair, the device suddenly starts to ring.

"Roy, about time! I trust everything was a succe-"

"No, it wasn't. Doopliss was standing at the border with no army in sight. He lived, we lost thousands."

"What? How in the name of DAD did that happen, you simple-minded fool?"

"I'm not sure, Brother Dumbest. That scrawny little ghost had some weird clock around his neck. Almost everyone collapsed right on the spot, and almost all of those were pronounced dead about half an hour later. The others died not soon after. Doopliss has killed almost the entire military."

Ludwig has no way to respond to this, and merely hangs up the phone without a sendoff. Immediately after turning the phone off, he begins to scream, throwing the phone onto the floor and watching it shatter into millions of pieces.

"That's it! Apparently no one around here can get anything done right! I might as well kill that sheet-wearing freak myself!"

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	25. Sic Semper Tyrannis

**Reunited**

**Chapter 24: Sic Semper Tyrannis**

Popple thrusts his left hand forward, causing the former Excess Express to rocket it forward, once again barely missing the heroes but hitting a building, causing it to collapse to the ground. All five heroes notice that the mock stone in his hand is controlling the train and promptly all five take their own course of action to get up the platform. Goombella and Ms. Mowz try using their small size to sneak up but that is ruined when the two have to jump out of the way of Deathrail. Koops and Eggo try a full-frontal assault, but they are met by a blast emerging from the stone itself, sending both flying backwards. Vivian takes a different method...

"You five are so pathetic!" Popple shouts as he moves his left hand a bit to point toward a nearby restaurant, causing a bag of food left lying by a customer who panicked when Deahtrail first launched to float to him and land directly at his feet. "I think I'll have me a meal while I watch you five try to stop death from coming. The only things I like more than watching idiots suffer are food, gold, and, oh yeah, myself!"

Suddenly Popple feels two hands grab with by the back of his collar. He turns his head slightly to see Vivian, who has just emerged from the shadows, holding said collar, and she immediately throws him into the side of the now stagnant train. He bounces off like a basketball off a wall, landing in a crumpled heap, the stone shattering in his hand and the Excess Express returning to normal in the process. Vivian slides down to him and, seeing that he is showing no signs of movement, lays one hand on his wrist.

"I'm not going to claim to be an expert or anything, but I'm pretty sure he's dead," Vivian remarks.

"He deserves even worse after all this," Goombella remarks while eyeing the destruction. The five turn and walk away, heading toward a boat nearby that they've commissioned to take them to Serena Beach. Popple's teeth suddenly press down on a pill wedged in the side of his mouth. After a liquid drains from it, he stands right back up as though nothing ever happened.

"Sic semper tyrannis," he mumbles before begin to walk in the opposite direction of the heroes, "Sic semper Peasley." A Wanted poster with his photo on it lands at his feet, but Popple ignores it and continues walking.

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Several hours later...

Deathnify sits upon Doopliss's throne in his standard form, having locked the door to keep someone from barging in. It has been rather easy to use the Doopliss transformation to put himself into power truthfully: he just convinced Doopliss's military officials into believing that the Doopliss in the hospital was a fake used to set-up Ludwig as well as garner sympathy for the small desert country.

"All is going according to plan," Deathnify mumbles as he sits upon the throne, "As soon as I get Ludwig alone, it begins." He suddenly transforms into Doopliss, then walks over and presses a red button on the wall, turning on the intercom to downstairs.

"What day of the month is today?" the demon asks in Doopliss's voice, awaiting his moment to strike, specifically Ludwig's biweekly visit, the last of which was on the 8th.

"The 15th, your highness," the secretary answers, sounding as though she was awoken by the intercom, not surprising considering the time. Deathnify takes his cloaked finger off of the button, then returns to his normal form once more.

"Just one more week. I have waited so very, very long for my time..." He then walks over and picks up the phone, dialing a number in Monstro Town, "Hey, Boo. Yeah, everything's going great. Ludwig's fate is just a week away, and after that you know what to do. So, you, Boolosus, and Van Gore interested in a game of cards tomorrow night?"

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Two Nights Later...

It's around 3 in the morning at Serena Beach, literally just a few hours before the destruction of Hotel Delfino. But the pirates of the Sugar Crew are not resting up fr the big day, instead awake for a joyous night of celebration not only at being ready to gain the Jewel of Love, but also at having successfully foiled an attempt to stop them, locking the interloper, Yoshi, in the brig of the S.S. Teacup. Syrup herself sits on the deck of the vessel engaging in a night of shanties among with most members of her crew. Others stand on the beach itself, dancing around a bonfire heating the cool ocean air. One of the partiers, a Wanderin' Goom named Goomer, notices a small green ship about a mile from the shore.

"Captain," he interrupts during the chorus of the song, "Someone's coming."

"Let them be!" she replies merrily, "Tonight is a night of celebration, not violence!"


	26. Glitz & Glamour

**Reunited**

**Chapter 25: Glitz & Glamour**

The heroes all stand behind the pilot of the ship, Flavio, looking out to shore.

"She's still here," Koops remarks seeing the S.S. Teacup. "I guess Yoshi failed."

"Well, we'd better hurry up and find that jewel then," Goombella muses, all while continuing to stare, "Perhaps they are asleep?"

"No, I can see a fire from here," Vivian remarks. "They're awake, and it looks like they're feeling pretty jovial."

"You know," Flavio says, "I've met Syrup a few times myself. She likes Flavio pretty well, so she might treat you five better if I come along."

"Sounds like it'd be better off to go with that than risk confrontation," Eggo replies. Suddenly Ms. Mowz gasps.

"Those four jewels Cackletta had," she suddenly begins to shout, "They moved! They're just a few islands away now!"

"Could someone have taken them from her?" Vivian wonders.

"Maybe her and her minions are on the move," Goombella answers. She then looks the mouse of the party directly in the eyes. "By the way, how do I keep failing to notice you slipping into my knapsack?"

"Pickpocket's skill," the Little Mouser answers before reaching into the pocket of the green cloak she is still wearing and handing Goombella a wallet from within it as well. Goombella looks dumbfounded seeing this.

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The small green ship pulls into the harbor of Serena Beach and anchors, the six people onboard stepping off and seeing the Sugar Pirates having a festival of sorts. Once they step off, Syrup approaches them with a glass, presumably filled with rum.

"Hey, look who it is!" she remarks upon seeing Flavio. "What's the occasion for you being here? Wanting to help out with the plan to get some "protection" from Popple?"

"These five payed Flavio to bring them here."

"Ah!" she laughs before turning to the other five, "What's your business here?"

"We're here for that jewel underneath the hotel," Goombella answers for the party, occasionally looking back to make sure Ms. Mowz isn't robbing her again, "We need it to stop an evil tyrant from-"

"Ah, so we've got the same idea, huh? You wanna beat Popple too?"

"Who?" Vivian asks for the group.

"Maybe you know him by his alias, C.P. Cornello. Here's a word of advice: the C.P. stands for Captain Popple."

"Never heard of him."

"Maybe you know him by appearance then?" Syrup wonders before pulling a folded up sheet of paper out from her pocket and showing it to them. "Recognize him now?"

"Hey, that's the guy we saw at the train station the other day," Eggo answers. "Don't worry 'bout it, he's dead. Let's just say he... caught the wrong train."

"Dead? Great work! I suppose him being dead works just dandy then!" Syrup chirps before guzzling down her drink. "Help yourselves to the jewel then!" Syrup turns and shouts to her crew, "Boys, I have an announcement! Thanks to these five people, as well as my good buddy Flavio, Popple's out of our lives forever! They offed him!" This stirs a loud cry of rejoicement from the crew, who begins to party that much harder.

"By the way," Koops asks, "Did a green Yoshi happen to show up recently?"

"Aye!" Syrup answers, "He wanted the jewel. We locked 'im up, but we were plannin' to let him go as soon as we got the jewel."

"Could you go do that right now then?" Eggo asks,

"Sure, why not!" Syrup turns and runs back towards the ship, and seeing this Vivian goes into the ground suddenly, coming back up a few minutes later jewel in hand.

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The Glitz-Pit promoter sits at his desk, tapping a pencil on it and anxiously awaiting the man he sent out's return. Suddenly his phone rings, and he answers it expecting an offer from someone interested in paying for some ads around the Glitz Pit.

"Hello. This is-"

"Hey, it's me. Just got let go by Syrup."

"How did things go?"

"I failed, but those other five showed up. Turns out they killed her target, so she let them have it and then let me go."

"Good, good. So how many does that make it total?"

"All 7. Cackletta's got four, those five have three."

"You mean-"

"It's time. I'm going with them at the moment. Going to help out in the final confrontation, if you know what I mean."

"Got it. I'll be there A.S.A.P. Talk to you later."

"Bye."

Both hang up, and the Glitz Pit promoter stands up and walks over to a closet in the corner. He opens it up and first takes out the letter from Daisy that had been sent just before she handed over the throne, suggesting he hide to avoid meeting the same fate and giving his current position as a good way to do so. He then takes out a familiar outfit he hadn't worn in about a month and a half.

_It's time,_ he tells himself, _It's time, Luigi._


	27. Forest of Fury

**Reunited**

**Chapter 26: Forest of Fury**

"Fawful, it is time! Those fools are about half a mile away, in the wood!" Cackletta shouts as seven torches are lit, centered around a pedestal on which lies the four jewels she has, along with her hand. She herself is attached to one of the jewels, just in case the heroes get their hands on them somehow because then she could conduct the resurrection herself. The building the stable of villains is located in is an old building that is in good order. Black is all along the walls and a chandelier of onyx is located in each and every room, with red satin carpet also lining the building. The mansion is huge, with three floors: the ground floor is used as the holding place of all of the gear for both Cackletta and the Apprentice; a pair of rooms for combat are on the second floor, one of which has a spell on it to take care of that little thing known as gravity (that one's Sharm's), while the other is very much like an archery range, complete with heavy crossbows mounted in the corner of the room (that's Bowyer's). The third floor consists of Fawful's bedroom as well as an open area suited for Mack's style of battle. Mack, Bowyer, and Sharm are all currently in their respective rooms, while the Apprentice is lurking around waiting for the heroes to show.

"Of courseness Cackletta. It is being about timing!" Fawful pulls out something the Apprentice picked up for him earlier, a small red cane, and waves it, instantly disappearing in an explosion of fire.

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"Sure is spooky here," Goombella mumbles while her, Koops, Vivian, Eggo, Ms. Mowz, and Yoshi all walk through the woods. Ms. Mowz is leading the way as she's the one reading the map (this time Goombella actually gave it to her), the others not speaking much as they take in the ever-present feel of the fact that it is do or die. Flavio is back at the boat; he had used the excuse of needing to keep anyone from robbing it, though they all know that he was and is scared of what is within this thick forest. As they walk, they begin to hear the sound of feet running through leaves within the woods.

"Fury, fury, fury," a voice whispers in tune with the steps. All six continue to walk, all but ignoring the goings-on, instead keeping focused on watching out for sneak-attacks. As they reach a fork in their path (with Ms. Mowz gesturing for them to head left), a sudden wall of fire emerges from before them, just a few feet shy of frying them. They turn to see Fawful standing, cane in hand.

"You shall not be stopping of the Cackletta!" he bellows as menacingly as someone his size can possibly be. He raises the cane once more, this time causing fiery snakes to emerge from this air, lunging at all six and wrapping themselves around the heroes, pulling them to the ground. Immediately after this, Fawful walks over to Goombella and opens her knapsack, pulling out the three jewels and stuffing them into the pocket of his cloak.

"It has been being nice," he taunts before waving the cane once more, causing the snakes to dissipate. All 6 stand up once more.

"I don't know who you are," Eggo mutters as both he and Yoshi aim a pair of eggs, "But you're not going to resurrect Cackletta!"

"Wait!" Ms. Mowz shouts out, stopping either side from launching an attack. "I'm sorry to say it is my time to show my true colors!"

"What?" both sides wonder aloud. Ms. Mowz throws off her cloak before continuing.

"Sorry old friends," she tells the other five heroes before turning to Fawful, "But I've been working for Cackletta all along! A spy, just to make sure she had me to turn to if ever a thing went wrong!"

"That is being preposterous, ratfink!" Fawful yells.

"I'm sorry to you, but Cackletta had to keep everything secret. The tiniest little rumor could cause the whole plan to fall apart, you see!" she answers him.

"YOU FILTHY TRAITOR! I'LL KILL YOU WITH MY BARE H-" Eggo starts to scream but is cut off.

"I'm afraid it is time for me to fulfill my calling of performing the resurrection of Cackletta now," she laughs sinisterly. Her and Fawful turn away and as they begin to walk to Cackletta's residence the heroes see her reaching one hand into the pocket he put the jewel into. After getting what she wants, Ms. Mowz pushes the bean to the ground and runs back to the other heroes, stuffing the jewels back into Goombella's bag as quickly as possible.

"Err... Eyahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" he cackles menacingly, much to the confusion.

"What are you laughing about?" Yoshi asks, confused. "We've got the-"

"No, you are having jewels of fakeness! The actual thingings have been sent to the great Cackletta of greatness withing the Wand of Zomb! The resurrectioning will be going on right nowness! But you six will not be living long enough to experiencing the excellence of Cackletta's reigning!" Fawful raises the staff high and, just as a blue ball of fire begins to emanate from it, a green figure comes flying from nowhere and tackles the bean, sending him tumbling to the ground with the cane landing several feet away.

"Luigi!" Yoshi reacts, much to the others' surprise.

"Hurry up! I'll keep him busy here! You have to get there before Cackletta can come back!"

The other six say nothing and instead run forward as fast as possible. They reach the mansion, the door wide open as though it is inviting them in. They all go inside.

"I'll stay here and keep watch," Vivian tells them. "I see anything, I'll come warn you guys."

"Good," Koops answers for everyone. All but Vivian run into a room where creepy candlelight is emerging from. They enter and immediately see a short figure with a black cloak on, kneeling before the platform, where all seven jewels are now placed.

"Haka sute alu! Manu secera resurac!" she yells out, obviously in the midst of the resurrection. She stands up and says one last word, "Cackletta," before turning around and leaving the room, heading back to where Vivian is. As the other five are about to follow, they see a golden light shoot from the hand.

"No..." Ms. Mowz says simply for the group, "We... failed."

Cackletta's soul emerges from the black jewel and begins to circle around the beam of light before entering it. Suddenly, the light spreads further and fills the room for just a second or two, fading away to reveal Cackletta... alive.


	28. The Apprentice Revealed

**Reunited**

**Chapter 27: The Apprentice Revealed**

Fawful punches Luigi, sending the plumber toppling to the ground, staining the overalls he is wearing with mud and grass. It is starting to rain as the two fight, almost as though the weather wanted to make sure the environment was as tense as could be.

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Vivian stands, looking outside at the forest, watching for in case someone else is to show up. As she stares, she hears a voice call from behind her, "Vivian!" The Shadow Siren turns, seeing the cloaked figure of the Apprentice standing behind her, all of her body obscured from vision.

"I've gotten one goal down, Vivian," the Apprentice tells her as both her hands begin to cover in green liquid, "Cackletta is alive."

"You succeeded?" Vivian asks, sounding both shocked and disappointed, "Well, you know as well as I do, 'Apprentice', that there is still hope to defeat her."

"Don't you think I know that? But they don't, and I'm afraid I will not permit you to interfere in my life's work!"

"Your life's work? What about-"

"Shut it, Vivian. Do you know how long I spent, how much time I devoted, to make that work? And then Mario and you and Luigi and Peasley and everyone else on the so-called "good" side just sweeps in and ruins it all! There is no true good or evil, Vivian. There are shades of gray, and you so-called 'heroes' fail to see that! Everything happens for a reason, and some good comes of everything, and yet Mario and Luigi and Yoshi and Peach and everyone else all failed to realize this! I've seen it happen to Bowser, to Smithy, to Popple, to the Shadow Queen, to the Shroobs, to Wario, to Grodus, to Ludwig, to Cackletta, to me, and even the idiot, and I am sick of it!"

The Apprentice turns around for a second to compose herself, then turns around to see Vivian holding... a crossword puzzle?

"What on Plit is wrong with you, woman?" the Apprentice shouts out as the green goo is overrun by ice, "Did you not understand a word I just said?"

"I just figured that, since you are apparently pretty smart, you could help me out with this one I'm stuck on. Can you give me a word for an ugly old woman?"

"I'll kill you!" Both launch into a fury of trading punches, a flurry of fire and ice blazing through the air but neither side can score a hit. Vivian eventually pulls in the shadows in order to get a few feet away, and the Apprentice moves back a few feet in the opposite direction.

"Just tell me this: why Cackletta?"

"Simple. I wanted to prove that none of my failures have been my fault, but always on the head of those simple-minded fools I've worked for!"

"So that's it, huh? Endanger the world just to prove you're not incompetent? That's kinda extreme, isn't it?"

"What about you, Vivian? What, did you think that Cackletta was just going to kill all of existence once she took over? Or that Bowser would? Or the Shadow Queen? The only so-called 'villains' that truly fit that mark are Smithy and the idiot, but it's the point of the matter!"

The ice around the Apprentice's hands suddenly disappears, and they instead start to glow a bright yellow.

"Just because you feel like you're being wronged doesn't mean-"

"Shut up!" the Apprentice yells as a gigantic yellow block materializes from her hands and launches at Vivian, with Vivian incinerating the block as it is about to hit.

"You..." Vivian starts, a bit surprised by seeing such a strange attack being employed by the figure before her.

"What's the matter, Vivian? Block got your tongue?" the Apprentice shouts as another block launches forward, hitting Vivian and knocking her to the ground, the block busting on impact. The Apprentice enters the shadows, reemerging right over Vivian. The Apprentice locks both hands around the girl's throat, and just as she is about to send her hands up in ice and kill Vivian right on the spot, she stops.

"End it," Vivian moans, knowing tempting the Apprentice will likely help to stop the planned homicide.

"I will," the Apprentice says, considering it once more before rising off of Vivian and saying simply, "I prefer an actual fight. And I know you're capable of it, Vivian. I know it."

Vivian pulls herself up, then begins to fire balls of fire at the Apprentice, who creates a block shield to repel them. Strangely, she also makes a block appear in front of Vivian, shouting, "If we're gonna have a shootout, I don't want to make it one-sided!"

While the Apprentice charges a ball of ice, Vivian suddenly rises from the shadows and tackles her to the ground.

"What can I say? Unlike you, I have everything to lose and nothing to gain," Vivian taunts, holding the Apprentice by her right arm with her right hand and using the left to push the hood off of the Apprentice's face.

"Just who I thoughtcha were," Vivian says as she lays the left hand over the Apprentice's left arm.

"Beldam."


	29. Scattered to the Winds

**Reunited **

**Chapter 28: Scattered to the Winds **

"You thought it was me all along, huh?" Beldam asks as her younger sister has her pressed down. "Then why didn't you bother telling the others?"

"I didn't want Cackletta or you to know. Figured I could gain an upper hand if I knew more than I let on."

"I'll give you credit, but how did you figure me out?"

"Several things. First, you taking the jewel at the Flower Fieldhouse. At the time I assumed it was just you in a state of power lust just like Insanee, Deathnify, and all those others we've run into. But then was the experience with Deathnify."

"You recognized my voice?"

"In all honesty, I didn't. I figured it out through some deductive reasoning: after all, in the fight with the fountain, the only people who beared witness were me, you, Marilyn, Doopliss, and my friends. Mario, Bobbery, and Flurrie are dead, while it couldn't have possibly have been Goombella, Koops, Doopliss, or  
Eggo, and Ms. Mowz wasn't likely either. And, of course, Marilyn would have been unable to say everything that had been said. How'd you come to work for Cackletta anyway?"

"Long story. I grew furious as the Palace of Shadow was overrun, and seeing Marilyn blow all our money on that fast food idea was the last straw. I decided to seek vengeance on you and your stupid friends, Vivian, for stopping me from achieving what I had worked for for over 1,000 years! So I joined up with a sea captain named Popple, who promised to fit you and all of your buddies on his death list while on his quest to gain the Philosopher's Stone. That's when I coaxed Bobbery into going out to sea near him by acting as though Popple was bringing in a load of food and needed Bobbery to bring it the rest of the way in. Bobbery went and never came back. Well, I decided to split from the boating thing and went to the Beanbean Kingdom, there meeting up with a Shaman named Sharm. He made me an offer to supply me with supplies and a few new spells if I helped him and his leader out. Turns out he was working for Cackletta, so he brought me to our former hideout and there I met her. When I explained all of my magical expertise, she sent me on a mission to grab some scrolls for her as a test. I did it in short order, and began to gain Cackletta's trust. We made a deal that she would supply me with you and your friends' carcasses, and while doing some 'work' for her I happened to weaken Mario before he fought Bowser and then, once Bowser killed him, I picked up the scraps. Then while I went to attack those two old men and shut down your base of operations, Flurrie showed up. That made three of eight. And the rest, as they say, is history."

"But wait-" Vivian starts, but Beldam cuts her off.

"There's more. Like you 'guessed', or rather pretended, I was attacked outside the Flower Fieldhouse. Specifically, it was Donkey Kong. Apparently he had been guarding the place and fell asleep, and then he was woken up by the fight. When I came out, he attacked. I spared him because if there's one crime I  
don't enjoy it's animal cruelty. Heh heh." Beldam suddenly explodes into a cloud of vapor, causing Vivian to fall off of her and land on the ground. She looks up to see the cloud of vapor above her reforming, then as Beldam tries to use her Freezing Rain attack Vivian ducks into the shadows to dodge.

* * *

Goombella, Eggo, Koops, Ms. Mowz, and Yoshi all stare at the resurrected Cackletta standing before them, her arms outstretched and revealing the colorful robe she is wearing.

"Finally, back where I belong," Cackletta cackles while examining her body as if she'd never seen it before. "You five are just a warm-up." Cackletta raises both of her arms into the air, causing three strikes of lightning to appear in midair, striking Eggo, Ms. Mowz, and Koops. All three disappear in a flash of light when hit.

"My minions will handle them," Cackletta sneers before ducking into the shadows and resurfacing along with two copies of her.

"Well, let's see how long we can last at least," Goombella tells Yoshi while continuing to glare at the Bean witch. Yoshi merely nods in response.

* * *

Eggo appears in midair, expecting to fall onto the floor of the room he is in. This does not happen, much to his confusion. The Yoshi floats in place for a second before seeing another figure, a Shaman wearing their standard blue cloak but with a medallion shaped like Cackletta's demon form around his neck, lowering from above. 

"Cackletta must have sent you up here to die," he muses before his hands both go up in flames. "Well then, I hope you realize the gravity of the situation you're in, boy."

* * *

Ms. Mowz lands on the floor of a room in the mansion. She pulls herself to her feet, eyeing the room and seeing that it appears to be some sort of archery range. She sees not a soul in front of her, then spins around to see the familiar figure of the living bow known as Bowyer staring down at her. 

"Nyah! Lucky you were getting in the town of Toad. A graveyard will this building soon resemble!" The mouse soon finds herself using her superior speed to run about the room, doing everything she can to dodge the arrows fired by the insane bow.

* * *

Mack bounces in place around the large, empty room he is within until he sees a flash of light with Koops appearing on the floor of the room. The Koopa Troopa pulls himself to his feet, seeing the knife hopping up and down while staring at him. 

"Cackletta sentcha up here, huh? Well, I hope you're ready to fight because I'm ready to bounce!"

* * *

"Vivian," Beldam chuckles before nailing her younger sister once again, "only one person could save you and the rest of this pitiful world at this moment, and he's dead! But I'll tell you what, I don't like an unfair fight, so I'm gonna give you a shot at it!" 

"What do you-" Vivian starts to ask, but never finishes as Beldam pulls into the Shadows, then emerges with seven specific objects in her left hand. She then grabs onto her sister with her right, and pulls her into the Shadows.


	30. Reunited

**Reunited**

**Chapter 29: Reunited**

Vivian and Beldam emerge in a thick grassy field. Upon further inspection by Vivian, she notices exactly where they are, and shivers realizing it.

"Now now Vivian," Beldam snickers, "Is that any way to act when you're about to meet an old friend?" Beldam throws six of the seven jewels onto one of the graves, a tombstone bearing the name Mario Mario sitting upon it.

"Come on, Vivian," she taunts while holding out the last jewel. "All you have to do is lay this jewel with the others and you can bring him back. You want that, don't you, Vivian?"

Vivian just stares at her sister, and you can guarantee that if her eyes were visible, they would be wide. The youngest Shadow Siren stands absolutely still for what seems like an eternity, then begins to shake her head.

"No. Never."

"What?"

"Mario used most of his life protecting Plit. He deserves to rest now. Me and my friends need to prove that we can and will move on and allow him to rest."

"You foolish girl! I'm practically handing you your only chance to succeed, and you're giving it away? Oh well, I'd just end up killing him again anyway."

Vivian responds with a smirk, then grabs the six jewels off of the grave and tucks them away. She then grabs onto her older sister and drags her into the Shadows.

* * *

Beldam pulls herself off the ground and shivers when she sees where Vivian has brought her.

"You told me about this place before, Beldam," Vivian says. "You talked about how you feared this place. So I brought you here."

The two are in a small mountain town, not a soul in sight. The town is a complete ghost town, abandoned by all and with good reason.

"Vivian, are you mad? Why bring the fight here?"

"Because unlike you, I have nothing to fear here because I'm willing to confront my wrongs. You try to ignore them."

"There are other places you could have done this Vivian. Not here though. Not here."

"Yes, here. I had to bring you to this place. You know all there is to know about fighting on Plit. But bringing you to the one place on Earth where there exists an entrance into the Shadows- that's what I needed to do."

* * *

"You fools!" Cackletta shouts before striking both Goombella and Yoshi with another burst of lightning, sending both heroes toppling to the ground in a charred heap. "I am invincible! Do not fight what you cannot hurt!"

"Sorry," Goombella says while her and Yoshi both pull themselves off the ground, exhausted and at a point where they would normally be unconscious or immobile. "But giving up isn't my style."

* * *

"I've always heard about how great of fighters your race are supposed to be," Sharm smugly remarks upon hitting Eggo with a blast of fire, "But you're not putting up much of a fight, no?"

"All I have to do is beat you, then Cackletta, and I'll have made up for losing to Raw-"

"Rawk Hawk? Heh heh. Funny story about that. See, I've been doing some craftsmanship with my spare time, and I happened to give him one of my finest works."

"What are you talking about? The guy who did that died two years ag-"

"Not quite," the magician interrupts before grabbing the sides of his hood and tightening the cloak. "I've been secretly doing some business for myself for years. Why, just about... two years ago, was it? I sent a minor minion of my sister's to do some work for me at the Glitz Pit."

"What? But what would you have to gain out of-"

"He he, easy my boy; I got to unleash plenty of chaos because of it! And even still... it came back to help me out, because it got us that first jewel!"

"You did it because you felt like it? You're heartless! You caused Jolene's death!" the Yoshi yells, furious at the Shaman. He launches himself forward off the wall (no gravity, remember) and lunges at Sharm, who is hit and collides into the opposite wall.

* * *

"Bounce with me!" Mack yells as Koops does everything he can to dodge the insane knife's attacks. Everything he can, of course, meaning that he is running around the room and, if it had been back before he met Mario, he would likely be screaming as well.

"Shell Shot!" Koops yells out, but Mack easily dodges thanks to the Koopa's telegraphing.

"Face it, you can't bounce with Mack the knife!" the jump-happy blade taunts, allowing an opening for Koops to shoot in and hit his blade, causing the knife to fall over. Koops quickly dodges the falling body and gets in as many hits as he can get before Mack gets up again.

* * *

"Nyah!" Bowyer yells simply as he launches another rain of arrows at Ms. Mowz. Using her far superior speed, the mouse manages to dodge both the bow and his arrows, then goes behind and jumps for the string, biting it and finding herself in pain afterwards, causing an instant release. She notices that the side of her mouth is starting to dribble a little blood.

"That are you liking? Nyah! Razor wire this bow of mine now is!" Knowing a back-up plan is needed, Ms. Mowz continues to run about the room while eyeing the crossbows in the corner, plotting all the while.

* * *

"Get up, Vivian!" Beldam yells at her sister. As soon as Vivian does so, Beldam punches her to the ground once more. "You make me sick! I should have killed you those times I had the chance!"

"You wouldn't and won't do it," Vivian answers before pulling herself up once, this time not getting hit just yet.

"Are you saying Noferis was right? Give me a break! I'll leave you for dead right her-"

"Exactly. You're willing to leave me for dead, but you can't kill me yourself. The theater, the Gate, and in your base. Three for three seems to indicate he was right."

"Enough! I have had it with you!" Beldam swings once more, only for Vivian to duck and nail her with an uppercut. Vivian then gets on top of her older sister and wraps both her hands around her throat, considering doing the same thing Beldam had in mind earlier.

"Go ahead, Vivian," Beldam snarls bitterly, "You've killed every goal I've ever had. Might as well finish the job."

Vivian takes in these words and pulls herself off of her sister, then as soon as Beldam stands up she nails her with a flaming uppercut, payback of sorts for what happened in the Flower Fieldhouse. Beldam, like what happened to Vivian before, is out cold.

"I can't either," Vivian mumbles before entering the Shadows and returning to the mansion. Another figure, a 5'10" white-faced blonde-haired demon, stands on one of the mountains just out of view. Rather than wearing his typical outfit, he is wearing a dark blue cape along with what appears to be some sort of leather armor.

"What a way to pass the time," Deathnify chuckles, "What a way to pass the time. D-Day for Ludwig, four days for Ludwig." He then pulls into the Shadows as well.

* * *

"Eyahahahahaha!" Cackletta laughs as another bolt of lightning hits both Yoshi and Goombella.

"We're not giving up," Yoshi mutters as he and Goombella pull themselves up once more, completely drained of energy and trying to find some way to hurt Cackletta.

"How can you two still fight?" Cackletta asks tauntingly, growing a bit bored with absolutely slaughtering the two.

* * *

Luigi punches Fawful in the mouth, then Fawful retaliates by hitting him with the Wand of Zomb directly in the stomach. This hit knocks the wind out of Luigi, causing the plumber to stumble backwards, stopping when his back comes within a few feet of a sharp low-hanging tree branch. Fawful, seeing his opportunity, rushes forward, knowing that if he hits it will mean Luigi's fall, but if Luigi dodges, it will mean his own.

* * *

Mack lunges forward once more, again being caused to trip due to Koops using his shell on the blade as it leaves the ground. This time however, Koops gets an idea.

"You like to bounce, huh? Let's see how you like to fly!" Koops carefully wraps his hands around the downed knife's handles, then with all his strength manages to recreate Mario' infamous spinning throw, tossing Mack through the sole window in the room and into the distant woods.

Having done that, Koops hurries out the door and down to the second floor, and there runs into the first room he finds.

* * *

Once inside this room, Koops feels himself lift off the ground. He then spots Eggo floating around the room, very carefully avoiding blasts from Sharm. Neither seems to notice him.

"Eggo!" the Koopa shouts, causing the Yoshi to turn his attention to the Koopa very briefly before continuing to dodge.

"Hey, help me out!" the Yoshi shouts. Koops nods, and both heroes float at the Shaman, beginning a two-on-one beating that the magician's magic is too much to keep up with. Before too long, the two heroes find that the Shaman is knocked out. This causes the gravity to return to normal, and both leave after they send Sharm on his way much like Mack.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The two charge into the next room, and inside see Ms. Mowz lying on the floor of the room, trying to do something to close the wound from the razor wire. Bowyer is nowhere to be found.

"I sent him into the distance with one of the crossbows," the mouse explains while finishing up sealing the cut.

"Then lets get going then!" the Yoshi shouts.

"Onward to victory!" Koops adds in before all three take off down to the first floor.

* * *

"Face it, I am undefeatable! Why, every minute I am drawing even more power from your inner darkness!"

Goombella and Yoshi both stand hunched over, trying to catch their breath. Both are burnt, battered, and cut-up, but the word "quit" is not even on their minds.

"You two are pathetic!" Cackletta yells. Just as she is about to strike both with lightning once more, Vivian rises from the floor and grabs both her wrists.

"Vivian!" Goombella shouts.

"Destroy the hand!" Vivian screams at the top of her lungs while locked in a struggle with the witch. "Do it, now!"

Yoshi and Goombella both run around behind Cackletta, who is still trying to get Vivian to let go of her. They grab the hand and Goombella Headbonks it, but that's not enough. Yoshi then gets a brilliant idea, and naturally consumes the limb. Vivian lets go of Cackletta just as the other three come rushing down the stairs.

"What'd that do?" Goombella asks Vivian as Cackletta looks irate while glancing at the six heroes surrounding her.

"Simple. She's vulnerable... for now. She still has all the power she gathered, but if we can beat her quickly enough she will die. If we don't... well, it's over."

"You know your stuff," Cackletta says sarcastically before lightning bolts begin to rain down at the heroes, with all being dodged at the last second. "Too bad it's not going to help you escape here alive!" Goombella takes the opportunity to jump and kick Cackletta in the face, and this is followed up with Ms. Mowz and Koops both tackling her, Eggo and Yoshi pummeling her with eggs, and Vivian using her fire to do some hefty damage.

"That... is... enough!" Cackletta thrusts her arms up and causes a huge black bolt to strike her, causing that oh-so-famous transformation of hers from a bean witch into a demon.

"Now you fall!" then demonic Cackletta shouts out, swatting all six out of her way like flies. She then begins to click her giant purple fingers, causing fire to appear and rush at the heroes, each getting hit by some and jumping over others (or in Vivian's case, moving her body to avoid them).

"I remember Mario telling me about this. We need to attack the heart!" Goombella tells her cohorts. The others nod and begin to try to hit the heart, only to be stopped every time he or she tries to score a hit.

"Give it up! I am greatness personified! I am a living legend! I am IMMORTAL!" Goombella opens her mouth to reply, but then sees something speeding at her from out of the room. She quickly ducks and sees the especially powerful fireball hit Cackletta right in the heart, then seeing the weakness charges in and delivers a finishing kick that stops the heart's slowed beating. Cackletta shakes for a second, then returns to her normal form before erupting in a fiery blaze.

"We did it!" Goombella shouts, and the others all begin to celebrate as well. Then the figure that shot the fireball walks in andf sees what he's done. His eyes fill with tears as he drops to both knees, then he stands up.

"My Cacklettaness!" Fawful screams in agony with the fury of 1,000 suns. He then begins to swing the Wand of Zomb, trying desperately to score a hit and lighting the building on fire in the process. All the heroes try to avoid the bean, who has apparently been driven insane by the fact that not only is his one true ally, his one true friend, his one true love, is dead once again, but that he himself dealt the blow that sealed her fate. The heroes rather easily dodge the bean, who is missing and constantly hitting the walls in his rage. Goombella sees an opening and jumps, kicking Fawful into one of the fires, and then all six get to running out of the building and back to where Luigi was last seen.


	31. Epilogue

**Reunited**

**Epilogue**

"So that's how it went," Ludwig tells his two nephews, the two sons of Lemmy, Lemmy Jr. and Bowser Jr. (no relation), of the adventure two years later. "As it turns out, Luigi did survive as the blow Fawful dealt only pierced deep enough to knock him out. Deathnify obviously failed to beat me when he attacked me in the family graveyard, and I managed to stop him from succeeding and killed him in the process. Peach came out of hiding and her and Daisy took up as the princesses of Sarasaland while Doopliss became Prime Minister. Yoshi and Luigi moved to Sarasaland as well and reside within the castle there, serving the role Mario had had in the Mushroom Kingdom before his death.

"As for the five heroes, each began to receive monthly gifts of 50,000 coins each from me in secret, mainly to keep them out of my hair. Wendy recovered obviously, and she eventually married. But what happened with the heroes after their money started coming? Vivian and Marilyn both moved out of Doopliss' house and got their own, and then they eventually got in contact with Beldam again before she disappeared again. The heroes still get together and search for her occasionally so as to keep her from trying any more plots to kill them.

"Goombella went back to college with the money, and is currently in her second year. She is trying to become a archaeologist and is currently at the top of her class. She still subs occasionally, but mainly lives off the money, and does not gamble with it either. Both Frankly and Gadd stop by to see her occasionally, and they visit the others every now and then as well. She also wound up marrying eighteen months ago, getting with a Goomba named Goombrett. I've heard Goombella may be about to have a child, but I'm not certain about that.

"Speaking of children, Koops and Koopie Koo's egg hatched about two months after the heroes returned home, and it was a daughter, their first of two, the other of which hatched last year. They named the first daughter Flur in honor of Flurrie and the second was named Maria, and you can guess where that name came from.

"Ms. Mowz used her money to move herself out of the country and onto a tropical island in the Dino Isles. Coincidentally, the island next to her happened to have Prince Peasley's summer home on it, though he's since moved out since Popple and the Brothers of the Stone have been trying to get at him for the past two years.

"Eggo donated the money I gave him to charity, but that's not the most interesting thing that's happened. Just over a week after he and the others defeated Cackletta, he returned to the Glitz Pit and did the impossible, KOing Rawk Hawk and managing to get the spell removed afterwards by using the jewels. After he did this, Eggo dropped the jewels into the ocean to ensure no one would ever call on their dark powers again. He still holds the title to this day.

"Mack and Bowyer were both released by Beldam, who had no further use for them, and they and Sharm went out searching for Sharm's sister Shwerm. She took them in, and they say the four are busy plotting something of their own. Now run along, your uncle's got something very important to do."

Both of Lemmy's sons stand up and run out of the room, closing the door on the way out. Ludwig then stands up and walks over, locking the door. He then starts to change, changing from 8'4" to 5'10" and becoming a pale human-like creature wearing armor made of leather and a long blue cape. His once blonde hair is now red.

"Plit, beware, take care, because Deathnify is coming!"


End file.
